Harry Potter and the Year After
by limesparklingwater
Summary: What happens during the year after the battle ends? Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Draco pick up the pieces left behind in the post-war Wizarding World-a world where they are adults and Voldemort is gone in body but not in spirit... This is *mostly* based off of book canon and what JK Rowling has said in interviews. Rated M for some lemon-y scenes.
1. Tea Sandwiches

Harry had made the trip down to Dumbledore's gravesite on the far side of the lake on his own. He hadn't wanted to advertise the fact that he was going to hide the most powerful wand in the world right there on the grounds of Hogwarts. It was better if everyone thought he was simply taking a moment to himself before leaving the grounds.

It was simple enough to open Dumbledore's stone slab since it had already been broken open by Voldemort. Harry, however, after no sleep in the last day, did not find it quite so easy to replace the wand within Dumbledore's year-long dead hands. There was the simple fact that Dumbledore simply appeared to only be sleeping—could a spell have been placed so that he wouldn't decompose? But no, Dumbledore would have never wanted something like that. It was just chance that he appeared this way.

Harry slowly placed one foot into the stone grave. It was just deep enough that Harry couldn't reach his old headmaster by simply leaning over. With trembling hands, Harry slid the wand into the small gap under Dumbledore's hands and then heaved his leg out of the grave again.

Harry's old wand seemed to sing to him within his pocket once he released the more powerful one. Harry hardly noticed as he magically repaired and then replaced the stone slab overtop Dumbledore's body. Unthinking, he felt his lips incant spells to conceal the wand only—they were spells that he'd only ever heard Hermione whisper while living in the woods during the autumn and winter.

Once finished, Harry's legs would no longer support him. He sat down on the grass with his back to Dumbledore's grave and gazed out at the lake. White light bounced off of the tiny waves as a mermaid swam up to the surface, gazed at Harry's unblinking face and then swam back down into the green-muddy water again.

Harry was alive.

And it was over.

He remembered the figures of Tonks and Lupin lying on the floor of the Great Hall, their hands barely touching, and wondered if they were still there. He needed to take care of his father's last best friend—his father's Hermione. Lay him to rest. And find out where Lupin's child—Harry's godson—was.

Should he adopt their child? Harry was only seventeen, after all. Though, how many seventeen-year-olds had been through what Harry had? Hopefully he was a tad more mature at this point than he would have been otherwise.

He realized that hiding the Elder Wand wouldn't be his last step after the battle. Maybe he'd never be done with this battle. Not really.

As Harry heaved himself to his feet from the small strip of land by the lake, he heard something (or someone) stir just within the darkness of the Forbidden Forest. Harry couldn't muster enough energy to even turn his head to the sound.

Though, he laughed to himself at the thought of being attacked and possibly dying from anything on these grounds now. Not now. It'd be absurd.

He reminded himself he'd have to die someday. Immediately, he thought of how, after turning the Ressurection Stone, James had appeared to him the way Harry had thought he had when he'd first conjured a Patronus…

* * *

Ron entered through the Fat Lady's portrait hole having just passed Ginny on the stairs. Hermione was sitting alone on the couch before the fireplace. There was a book in her hands. Ron fought back the tears that threatened to fall at the sight of her there. It was almost too good to be true.

Taking a deep breath, he walked to her and sat down next to her. In the corner of the room, McGonagall was speaking quietly to Colin Creevey's little brother. Ron tried not to watch as a woman, who must have been Colin's mother, came in and spoke to McGonagall, gave her a hug, and then took her surviving son's hand and half-dragged him from the room as the boy stared dumbly at the floor.

McGonagall turned and saw that Ron was looking at him. She glanced at Hermione and smiled at the sight of her reading and looked back at Ron and smiled at him as well. He felt himself smiling back at her. She strode purposefully away to the opposite corner. Seamus and Dean were there. He hadn't noticed them there until now. The two stood and followed McGonagall from the room.

Glancing around, Ron was surprised to find that he and Hermione were now alone. He saw Hermione's hand resting next to him and he grabbed it and held it in his own.

Her fingers were cold. "Alright there?" he asked her.

"Mm hm," she said without looking up from her book. Sitting up from his slouch, Ron leaned over and kissed her cheek. He watched her profile as she smiled down at her book and he couldn't help but smile too.

He kissed her cheek again and let himself laugh at her smile.

Then, she turned and kissed him. It was just as passionate as after she'd killed the horcrux in the chamber and when she'd dropped the basilisk fangs when he'd mentioned the house elves.

But now, there was no battle to finish fighting. There was only the two of them in the Gryffindor Common Room.

She pushed him back on the couch, grinning coyly at him. And she kissed him again. Her hair was even wilder than it normally was. It was like a bushy curtain around them.

But suddenly, she was gone. Standing next to him. Someone had come in, he realized belatedly. Ron hurried to his feet and stood in front of her.

It was Dean.

"Forgot this," he said, as he hurried over to the table he'd been sitting at. He picked up a brown jacket that was slung on the back of a chair. Smirking at them, Ron smirked back as Dean hurried from the room. They were alone again.

"We can't have that happen again," Hermione said, glancing down at the couch and then quickly to Ron and away again.

"Can't we?" he said. He pulled her toward himself and he was surprised when she let him kiss her. He threaded his hand into her hair, holding her as they kissed.

"We need to be more careful," she said against his lips. She took his hand and pulled him to the portrait hole.

"Where are we going?" he asked her quietly as they hurried down the steps to the sixth floor.

"Somewhere else." They hurried past a broom closet but then Hermione stopped suddenly. "Perfect," she said and pulling her wand from her pocket, she silently unlocked the door and pulled him inside. He shut the door behind himself. He desperately hoped there weren't any spiders.

* * *

The mid-morning sun was bright over the grounds. The air was warm and smelled like the end of school. Harry gazed toward the Whomping Willow and wondered what Lupin would have said to being buried nearby the thing. It'd been planted for him, after all. But then Harry realized that Lupin was probably glad to leave at least that tree behind.

He could ask Mrs. Weasley what to do. But Mrs. Weasley needed to bury Fred… Harry felt himself shake his head at himself.

How had he reached the Great Hall so quickly? It was as though his feet carried him to where they thought the dead bodies were without even meaning to do so. But of course—the dead were no longer there. Where'd they go? He hadn't thought about it in the midst of battle while defeating Voldemort but he was thinking about it now. He had no idea where they could have been taken.

"Harry," said a familiar voice. He turned and saw her red hair first. Then her bright brown eyes. And then down the rest of her.

"Ginny," Harry said, seeming to exhale her name. He pulled her into his arms without thinking about it. Or had she hugged him first? Her hair smelled good even though she was grimy with dirt.

"Are you alright?" he asked almost as a reflex.

"Yes. You'd disappeared again. Hermione said you'd gone up to the Headmaster's Office, but then I crossed paths with Ron and he said you were going to go somewhere on a walk and he wasn't sure where. He said he thought maybe the grounds somewhere—" And then Ginny did something he'd never imagined her capable of: she started crying. Really sobbing. He held her tighter, unsure what to say. He wished he could sob like that. It probably would make him feel better.

"I'm here now," he managed to say. After a minute, she calmed down enough to let go of him and step back.

"Sorry," she said wiping her eyes. Harry tried to smile at her but wasn't sure that he managed to. Fred had died, after all. It was terrible to think, but Harry was only relieved that the Weasleys had only lost one child.

Harry realized it then: the whole stupid reason he'd half-heartedly broken things off with Ginny, the whole thing… it was okay now. No more trying to be noble in case he died.

"I'm not dead." He didn't mean to say it out loud.

"Yeah," she said, and actually smiled and laughed at him, "I know." He wanted to kiss her but he wasn't sure if he should. After all, thinking back, she had always been the one starting everything. Instead, they simply stared at one another for a few seconds before she spoke again, "Erm, look. I know you don't really have anywhere… Mum said it'd be alright if you stay with us until you figure out what you want to do."

Harry hadn't even thought about it. He was homeless. Well, except for Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place. He'd have to get rid of that little trick Dumbledore-ghost first if he ever wanted to go back there. Hopefully Hermione would help him with that.

"Yes, I'd love to," Harry said. He promised himself he'd pay rent. That is, if Gringott's was still open after his stunt with the dragon. Maybe they'd used his money to repair the place? He added that to the growing mental list of problems he'd have to face in the coming weeks.

"Great," she said, smiling at him again. She reached out and took his hand in hers and led her back out of the Great Hall. He realized they were headed toward Gryffindor Tower.

"Do you need to pack?" he asked her. He liked the feeling of her hand in his but at the same time, it felt foreign and like something forbidden still.

"Nope," she said simply.

"Oh."

"Kreacher brought some food up."

"Oh," Harry said again. His stomach seemed to wake up when she said this. He couldn't remember the last time he'd actually eaten anything. With Dumbledore's brother in Hogsmead? Had he actually eaten anything then? It seemed like such a long time ago. He'd intended to eat after he slept but he still hadn't gotten around to it.

* * *

Ron grabbed her and pulled her to himself. He didn't realize it, but he actually forgot all about the possibility of spiders. She kissed him.

He was very, very nervous suddenly. He tried to hide it by kissing her harder, but that only made Hermione grab hold of him with a firmer grip. She was really kissing him, and he returned her kisses the best that he could… the little breathy sounds she was making were so distracting—but in a good way… Honestly, everything was amazing until sparks flew from her wand and caught his sleeve on fire.

"Oh! Aguamenti!" she shouted and doused the fire out. "Ah, sorry Ron!" She waved her wand in a complicated way and dried him off.

"Thanks," Ron said. He couldn't help but laugh. Her worried look, he could see in the low light of the closet, had turned into a faint smile. "Would you mind putting that thing away now?"

"Yes," she said, shoving it into her pocket, "of course." They stepped toward each other at the same time and kissed. It was a little awkward now, but Ron didn't care. He'd kiss Hermione all day if he could.

"Ron, ouch. You're stepping on my foot," Hermione said quietly.

"Oh, sorry," he said, stepping back. His heel bumped into the wall. He tried not to notice the crunch (bug or spider?) under his foot.

"It's alright," she said. She pulled him down roughly and kissed him again. But the height difference between them was painful. Ron's upper back ached after about ten seconds of leaning this way.

"Come here," he said and lifted her up. She tried to wrap her legs around him but the closet was too small. She started laughing again.

"This seemed like a better idea than it was," she said, shaking her head.

"Yeah," he said, glad that she was laughing. "Maybe we could go up to the Common Room again?"

"Yes, alright," she said and he set her back down. He wouldn't let her drop his hand though. Maybe if they got up there before Harry did, they could make use of Ron's old school bed. A thousand fantasies he'd had over the last few years—ever since the Yule Ball in fourth year—flashed through Ron's mind then.

He turned and kissed her quickly as they walked. She responded immediately to the kiss. They had to stop there in the hall before Ron was the one to pull away.

"Come on," he said, reluctantly when he heard footsteps at the opposite end of the hall. Hermione made a frustrated little noise in the back of her throat which did more to turn Ron on than any of her kisses. He took her hand and led her back toward the Common Room.

* * *

When the Fat Lady let them in without a password, Harry was expecting to see a room full of people, but it was surprisingly empty.

"Where is everyone?" he wondered aloud.

"Mom and Dad and everyone are at the Burrow already—except Ron and Hermione of course. Ron said they'd be here and would wait for you. I was sure they'd be here… maybe they went to the kitchens? But most other people went home already too. There's a lot—of things to plan… and a fair number of people to lock up in Azkaban."

"Right." Azkaban—another thing to add to the mental list.

Ginny was leading him up to his old dormitory. He listened to their footsteps echo against the stone steps. The only time he'd been here when it was this empty was during holidays.

When they entered the dormitory, Harry could smell the tray before he saw it. It was laden with tea sandwiches and two bowls of hot stew. And treacle tart and pumpkin juice.

"Have you eaten?" he asked her.

"Nope. Was too busy looking for you." She grabbed a sandwich and took a bite. Harry watched her eat for a minute before he picked up a sandwich too. Even dirty, she was cute when she ate.

"What?" she asked, noticing that he was staring at her. Harry didn't normally like tuna salad but he was hungry enough that it tasted good.

"Nothing," he said, smiling with his mouth closed. Suddenly, the door burst open. Ginny caught the tray as Harry jumped up, wand out before he realized that he'd moved. It was Ron coming in through the door though, dragging Hermione behind him.

"Oh," Ron said, glancing between Harry and Ginny.

"Oh, we were just looking for the two of you," Hermione said, though her face was crimson.

"Want a sandwich?" Harry asked, lowering his wand and sitting back down. Ron grabbed one as Harry finished his little sandwich off and picked up one of the bowls of stew. Hermione didn't move from where she stood, but simply crossed her arms over her chest and looked to the floor. Harry noticed that Ginny was trying not to laugh. But as he caught her eye, she couldn't contain it anymore. She swallowed and then, as she laughed hard enough that tears came from her eyes, Harry couldn't help but laugh as well.

"Honestly, we really _were_ looking for you," Hermione said, "I don't see what's so funny." She plucked a sandwich from the tray and took a small bite from the corner without looking at anyone.

Hermione's parents—there was another thing for the mental list. How many things was that to remember now? Harry thought that he ought to actually make a written list.

The four ate in a companionable silence—he and Ginny on what used to be his bed, and Hermione and Ron on the bed that used to be Ron's. As Harry gazed from Ginny to Ron and to Hermione, he noticed that they all seemed to be deep in thought. He wished he could just wave his holly and phoenix wand and take their concern away, but he didn't know of such a charm.

Once Harry finished his bowl of stew, and Ginny finished hers, and Ron finished off the sandwiches, Harry offered his treacle tart around. As the tray was finished off, he tried to stifle his yawn but Hermione noticed at once.

"Come on, I think we all need to get some rest. Especially Harry." Hermione left the room without checking to see if anyone was following her.

"I'm just going to—," Ron said and hurried after Hermione.

"I can't sleep like this," Ginny said. "I need a bath."

Harry automatically imagined her in the bath.

"Want directions to the Prefect's bathroom?" Harry asked, moving the tray to an empty bed. Magically, it disappeared when he let go of it. He wasn't surprised.

"Actually, I don't need directions," Ginny said, smirking at him. "I was made prefect at the start of the school year. You were busy, I wouldn't expect you to know—"

"Sorry. I guess I have a lot to catch up on."

"Yes, I'm looking forward to that," she said and winked at him.

"Don't fall asleep in the bath."

"I'll try not to," she said, and seemed to wait for Harry to speak again. When he didn't say anything else, she said, "Well, see you later Harry." Then, she stood and started toward the door. He wanted to tell her to wait, and some part of him wanted to invite himself along to her bath, but he was just too tired. And if he had been honest with himself, he would have realized that he hadn't really spoken to her in a year.

And yet, she still felt like home to him. There was just something so familiar about her in a way that Ron and Hermione never could be for him. Last year, she'd been a sort of haven of happiness for him. She'd been something separate. Something secret in his heart that he'd held onto in the worst hours in the last year or so. He'd worried about her, sure, but the fact that she was still alive—that someday if he'd live through all this he'd be able to come back to her—had been one of the biggest things that he daren't allow himself to realize that he'd held onto in his heart.

With one last glance over her shoulder, Ginny shut the door behind herself. Harry didn't realize he'd been smiling until after she left and wondered if she thought he was strange for seeming happy right now.

But no, she understood. She'd been smiling too, after all.

Within minutes, Harry fell fast asleep on top of the still-made bed.


	2. The Burrow

Three weeks later, by mid-July, Harry had attended the funerals for Fred, Lupin, Tonks, Lavender Brown, Colin Creevey, and a few others for people he didn't know very well but that Mrs. Weasley told him he should go to anyway.

"You'd best go," she said, "Better to go than have people be offended."

He also had to stand trial against fourteen different surviving Death Eaters over the course of those weeks. During that time, he single-handedly absolved the Malfoys in one afternoon. He also formally pardoned Xenophilius Lovegood for trying to turn him over to Death Eaters even though no charges had been made against him.

Harry was spending so much time with Kingsley Shacklebolt that he felt like they were becoming like sort of friends in a way. Kingsley had offered for him to skip taking N.E.W.T.s and go straight into Auror training. Harry hadn't told anyone this yet.

During this time, soon after Fred's funeral, Hermione went to Australia to find her parents. Ron had practically begged her to let him come with her but she said that he should stay with his grieving mother. But after Ron kept threatening to follow her with his Deluminator, just so he could secretly check on her, she gave in and let him come along with her after all.

It'd taken Ron and Hermione a week to get them to come back to the United Kingdom and even then their memories were spotty. They were generally distrustful of their daughter now.

"She mentioned that she thought about just leaving them there after she'd been there for a couple of days. Since they seemed so happy and all," Ron told Harry one night after they came back. Hermione was now living with her parents. She felt it was her responsibility to watch over them and try to get them re-acclimated even though Ron tried to get her to stay at the Burrow with them.

Harry and Ron were lying awake in Ron's attic bedroom, Harry on his cot and Ron in his bed. "She'd probably never forgive herself if she couldn't bring them back."

"Yeah," Harry said.

"I still can't believe you got them to pardon Lucius Malfoy."

"Well, Narcissa—," Harry began. He was getting tired of rehashing this argument with Ron. It seemed as though a lot of people agreed with Ron, but Ron was the only one willing to actually speak his mind on the matter.

"I know, Narcissa saved your life in the forest, but what did Lucius do?"

"Well, Narcissa did the right thing. She can have her loser husband if she wants. Lucius Malfoy just goes where he thinks the power is. He's not any real harm to anyone."

"Anyone who can be so easily swayed _is_ harmful."

"Maybe. But it's already done. He's already been tried."

Harry shut his eyes and thought about Ginny's hair and the way it swayed in the wind today. He'd watched her punt garden gnomes in the yard while he'd pretended to read the Daily Prophet. They still hadn't spoken much, though she caught him staring at her probably as much as he caught her staring at him.

He realized he was more afraid to accidentally say the wrong thing to Ginny at this point than he even was when he'd been flying away from Fiendfyre in the Room of Requirement. With the constant reminder from the nearly daily funerals, Harry felt guilty that he was alive and her brother was not. Not that anyone at the Burrow thought that way. George spoke at Fred's funeral and said how his twin had died laughing. Bill had spoken about how Fred had died for the worthiest cause. But still, Harry had not died for that worthy cause… at least, he hadn't stayed dead.

The more time that passed without either Harry or Ginny making the first move to rekindle whatever they had, the less likely it seemed that it would happen.

Just as Harry started to drift off to sleep as he imagined Ginny running into his arms and kissing him, Ron spoke again.

"Do you think you'll go back for seventh year?"

"Wha—what was that?"

"Dad said that they're letting anyone who missed last year retake their school year. Hermione owled today and said she's definitely going back."

"Oh, that's very surprising," Harry said flatly. Was there ever a question whether Hermione would choose to go back for more schooling?

"Are you going back?"

"I don't know."

"Yeah. Well, if you're not going back, I'm not going to go. George said he'd like it if I came and worked with him at the shop. You know… since well…"

"Yeah," Harry said. Harry had lost so many people in his life, and yet he had no idea how to act around Ron when he mentioned Fred. He wondered if he had made other people this uncomfortable with his own grief in the past. He supposed he must have at some point… he thought of the way he'd acted during fifth year, and then when Sirius died, and cringed to himself. "So you don't want to be an Auror anymore?"

"Well, not much point anymore, is there? Voldemort's gone."

"But there was Grindlewald before Voldemort. There will be someone after, too, I'm sure."

"Yeah. I just… I don't think it's for me."

"I don't think there's anything else for _me_ ," Harry said.

"Ginny's going back, of course," Ron said, "If we go back, she'll be in the same year as us. They're letting her and Luna move on even though they both missed half the year."

"That'll be…," Harry started. He hadn't really thought about what he wanted to do, so he figured it'd be nice to at least make Ron happy. "Yeah," Harry said, as he started to fall asleep, "I'm going back."

"Great, because Mum already signed us both up."

In the morning, Harry woke up before Ron. Probably it had to do with Ron's snoring or maybe the fact that the sun's rays fell on his face every morning from the dusty attic window.

Harry started downstairs and passed by Fred and George's old room which was still filled with boxes. George was in there sleeping by himself, Harry knew.

Bill and Charlie had already gone back to their homes and jobs though they'd been here for Fred's funeral. Fleur had come with Bill of course. Harry had accidentally overheard Fleur talking to Mrs. Weasley about the idea of trying to have a baby. He suspected Fleur had just been trying to cheer up Mrs. Weasley, but it was still an odd idea to him. Fleur seemed so young to him still. They'd competed in the Triwizard Tournament together, after all. She was only a few years older than him.

As Harry made his way past Ginny's room, he couldn't help but notice that her door was open a crack. He slowed and was tempted to peek in, but he didn't want to eavesdrop on her. She would likely cast the Bat Bogey Hex on him if she didn't want to be disturbed, knowing her.

He couldn't help it when he saw her. He wasn't trying to peek in, but he'd stopped at her door. She was in her bra and knickers. As she turned toward her dresser, which happened to be the same direction as the door, Harry made himself move again for fear of her seeing him. Oddly, as he stepped away, he could have sworn she'd had a smile on her face.

When he reached the bottom of the steps, he greeted Mr. Weasley, who was sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of tea and the Daily Prophet.

"Morning," Mr. Weasley said, smiling over his glasses in a way that made Harry think of Dumbledore.

Harry surveyed the offerings that had been left overnight. Every morning was like a miniature Christmas. After word spread that Harry was living with the Weasleys, people started sending offerings of thanks to the Weasleys' door every night. Every morning there were fresh baskets of food—with hot rolls, or pastries. Or else they had salamis and baguettes, or odd cured hams, or jars of pickled things that smelled foreign and odd. Sometimes there were fresh bouquets of flowers with a gushing card or else there would be a long parchment of cramped writing written to Harry… The notes embarrassed Harry, especially when they weren't signed at the bottom, but he was glad that he could give the Weasleys all the food and gifts.

They'd refused for the first week but now they seemed to understand that Harry wanted them to have the stuff. What would he do with it all, after all?

At the center of the table, he spied a large bottle of very expensive-looking firewhiskey. He couldn't help it when he thought of the day that Ron had almost died in sixth year and Harry had shoved a Beozar down his throat at the last moment.

And then Harry thought of how, at every memorial service, he'd been expected to drink a shot of the alcohol. Firewhiskey didn't bring back very good memories. He wondered if he drank enough of it while happy if he'd stop associating the stuff with death. He somehow doubted it.

"Morning dear!" Mrs. Weasley said as she bustled into the room. "Hungry? I have a backlog of eggs from the coop that need eaten. What will all this food on the table every morning—"

"Eggs sound great," Harry said, "Want some help?"

"Oh, goodness no," she said, fanning her hand at him.

She flicked her wand and two dozen eggs flew from their basket on the opposite side of the kitchen. A large red mixing bowl zoomed over to meet them in midair. The eggs cracked themselves in a quick row along the edge of the bowl as though they were two dozen kamikaze dive-bombers. The shells flew to the rubbish bin as a whisk floated out from a drawer which seemed to open and close itself. The eggs were magically whisked. All the while, Harry noticed, Mrs. Weasley's back was turned. Salt and pepper added themselves to the whisking, as well as some cheese procured from one of the many gifted baskets.

If Hermione had seen this, he knew she would have thought that the woman was just showing off. He smiled to himself. At the same time, Mrs. Weasley was charming some sausage and potato hash into a large skillet on the stove. Harry started his daily ritual of trying to find a place to put the gifts that were on the table as Ron came downstairs.

"Mum, that smells fantastic," Ron said, as he seemed to say almost every meal time. If their time in the tent served any purpose, it made Ron much more appreciative of his mother's cooking.

"Thank you," she said, smiling over her shoulder at him. Ginny, who was now fully dressed, came down the stairs next and wordlessly started helping Harry with clearing the table. She was followed shortly by George, who hadn't bothered to put on more than his boxers and t-shirt or even to pat down his hair.

"Morning," he said, yawning and rubbing his stubbly chin. Mrs. Weasley cast a worried look over her shoulder at him as she started cooking the egg mixture on the stove.

A tray of toast appeared on the table and then a butter dish. Then plates, forks and knives, napkins, a pitcher of pumpkin juice, a hot pot of tea, a jar of honey and a little jar of sugar.

Harry could see why Ron had believed that his mother could make meals appear out of thin air. It certainly did seem that way. He was sitting across from Ginny and next to Ron. It was odd when they started eating. He felt like they needed to wait for Hermione and Fred to come downstairs still.

Except for Arthur commenting on how a thunderstorm was forecasted for the day, Harry noticed once again how quiet everyone was. He wondered if things would ever be as it once was. This house had always been the warmest, happiest home he'd been in. It seemed to be fractured now.

Harry tried not to let himself think too much about it.

"Ginny, would you deal with the rest of the garden gnomes today?" Mrs. Weasley asked, breaking the silence that ensued after Arthur's weather report.

"Sure, Mum." It was odd not to hear Ginny protest against chores, Harry realized. She always had before. Maybe she'd finally realized that there wasn't any point in arguing. Though, it would have made things seem more normal if she'd half-heartedly protested once in a while, just for old-times' sake. Especially with the storm coming, it was odd that her mother asked her to do yard work.

"Harry, you want my Prophet again?" Arthur asked.

"Sure, thanks," Harry said, nodding and smiling.

"George dear, do you want more eggs?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"No, thanks, Mum."

"Alright then," she said, half-smiling.

"I'll take more, Mum," Ron said. She scooped more onto his plate and smiled a little wider at him.

"George," Mrs. Weasley said slowly. Everyone at the table looked up at her except for George.

"Yes, Mother dearest?" he asked, taking a sip of his pumpkin juice.

"Angelina Johnson owled this morning asking if she thought it'd be alright to come by. Wanted to see how—see you."

"Old Angelina," George said, "I wonder why she didn't owl me directly."

"Well, she did, but I opened it," Mrs. Weasley admitted.

"Did you owl her back for me too? I hope you told her we'd get the good china out for her."

"I didn't owl her back, but if you'd like—I—"

"I'll owl her. I know I only have one ear, but I'm not an invalid."

"Of course, dear."

Soon after that, breakfast finished quickly, probably due to the lack of conversation following George's sarcastic comment.

After breakfast, Ginny went out to the yard to punt more garden gnomes. After Arthur left for work, Harry grabbed the newspaper and went outside as well, despite the dark cloud cover. Almost immediately, though, he dropped the newspaper on the stoop. He had lived with Ginny for nearly a month and still hadn't really spoken to her more than passing small talk. He couldn't get the image of her in her underwear out of his head from this morning, not completely. It was driving him crazy to be so physically close to her and yet feel so far away.

As Harry approached her, he watched a gnome sail away over the hedgerow. She spoke before he did.

"I know you saw me this morning," she said, and turned to face him, "Pervert."

"I didn't mean to."

"Yes you did," she said immediately.

"Did you want me to see you?" he asked her, taking a step closer. He felt like he was being watched and looked over his shoulder. He saw clearly, even from across the yard where he stood, that Mrs. Weasley had been standing at the kitchen window, watching them. When she saw that Harry was looking at her, she hurried away.

"Come with me," Ginny said, grabbing Harry's hand. She led him across the yard to Mr. Weasley's little shed of muggle junk. The door wasn't locked, and they slipped inside. Ginny shut the door behind Harry.

He looked down at her in the low light coming in through the cob-webbed windows from the cloudy morning. He heard the pitter of raindrops on the tin roof above them. They'd narrowly missed the start of the rain. It was picking up over their heads and still they hadn't spoken to each other.

"Are you afraid of me?" Ginny finally asked, hiking her hands to her hips in a way that was so like Mrs. Weasley that Harry had to push the image from his mind.

"Yes," Harry said automatically. Ginny laughed at him.

"Harry Potter, the Chosen One, the wizard who defeated the greatest dark lord the world has ever seen, is afraid of a little ginger girl."

"Gingers are pretty scary, you have to admit," Harry said. He felt the corners of his mouth turn up as he tried not to smile.

"Oh, you have no idea, Potter," she said, swinging her hair over her shoulder. Harry stepped toward her, gauging her reaction, as though she wasn't Ginny but instead was some sort of wild animal.

"I'm not going to bite, I promise," she said. One of her eyebrows quirked up as though testing him to see if he'd believe her.

"That's not what past precedent would say," Harry said, taking another step forward.

"'Past precedent'? You've spent too much time with Hermione I think."

"I agree," Harry said. He wanted to push his hair back from his forehead—it'd been too long since his last haircut and he was sweating a little from the storm's humidity—but he didn't want to expose his scar on his forehead.

She watched as his hand had drifted halfway up and then fell back down. Stepping forward, as though she could read his mind, she pushed the hair back from his forehead.

"Is that what you wanted to do?" she asked, "That scar is wicked hot, Harry. You should stop trying to hide it."

He could barely concentrate on her words. When she had touched his hair, he felt it through to his toes. He looked all over her face, gauging her reaction again.

Slowly, with eyes open, he leaned forward and kissed her softly on her lips. He watched as she shut her eyes and he shut his too.

He scuffed the last step forward and slid his arms around her back, gently holding her against himself. For someone so tough, she was so soft. Her hair was soft, the fabric of her shirt was soft, and though she was fit, her skin was soft under his calloused hands.

"Ohh," she said into his mouth. Her hands found his already-messy hair and wound into them, pulling a little. Harry grabbed her upper arms, stopping her. She looked up at him, and pulled him back with her to one of Arthur's work benches. She sat down on one of the bar stools nearby so they were nose to nose and she pulled him into a kiss. This one was not so gentle as before.

She raked his shirt up as he kissed her and then raked up her own. He could feel the skin of her skinny little belly brushing against his happy trail. The button of her jeans was pressing against him. He wanted to unbutton that button, but he knew he shouldn't.

She was pulling his shirt off. Realizing this, he pulled it the rest of the way and dropped it to the dusty floor.

"What if your mum comes looking for us?" Harry asked as he kissed her neck. She leaned into his kiss, her head tilted back.

"I don't care. Don't stop." She pulled her own shirt off and threw it down to the floor. Harry kissed the tops of her breasts. She was wearing the same bra that she had been this morning, of course. Up-close it looked so much better.

Harry noticed that her hands had left his chest and neck, where she'd been pulling him closer to herself. She was fumbling with the button of her jeans.

"Ginny," he said, laying a hand over hers, "You're killing me. Don't you want to, you know, get to know each other again first?"

"Harry," she mocked, looking into his eyes, "There'll be ages to talk later. I'm tired of waiting."

"Are you sure?" he asked her though he could see that she was. They'd come so close to this during their short time together during sixth year. But Harry had always held back, had always stopped things when they'd become too heated. Ginny hadn't seemed to be capable of stopping back then, just like now.

Back then, he'd had a very good reason to stop. He'd known he'd have to leave Ginny soon. If things had gone too far, he'd known that it'd be that much harder for her to move on after he left. He hadn't wanted that for her.

But he realized that he should have known: what they had was far too passionate for her to move on. It was as though there was an electric current between them whenever they were near each other. Ginny was like a bolt of lightning and Harry was like the unassuming tree that she struck and split in two.

Ginny, in response to Harry's question, slid from the barstool and unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans. Then, she did the same to her own and pulled them off along with her shoes. She was only in her underwear now.

The storm over head seemed to burst open as lightning struck nearby.

It crossed Harry's mind how odd it would be if this little shed was struck now. At least he would die happy.

Ginny pulled Harry toward herself again and wrapped her arms around him. He pressed into the apex of her thighs without meaning to.

"Merlin, Ginny," Harry said as Ginny kissed his collarbone. He buried his face into her hair as she reached down into his pants.

He was inside her a moment later. He realized Ginny had simply moved her knickers out of the way rather than take them off. He gazed up at her face and saw that she looked uncomfortable. A ruddy crimson had spread over her cheeks.

He kissed her as he gently eased himself back from her. Hooking her arms under his shoulders, her nails dug into his shoulder blades in a sickeningly good sort of way. She pulled him back toward herself.

He covered her mouth with his as she moaned.

"Are you alright?" he whispered to her. She nodded frantically. Lightning struck again, this time further away over the country hills.

Harry thrust into her again under her guidance. He rested his forehead in the crook of her soft neck. It was really hard to believe that this was happening right now.

He kissed the spot just under her ear at the end of her jaw. There was a freckle there. Her hand found the messiest part of his hair again and tugged again.

Holding her so she was steady on her chair, he tried to stay slow but it was difficult. He thrust faster and faster inside of her. Every couple of minutes he'd look into her face and she'd nod to him without fully opening her eyes. Her legs were wound tightly about his waist now but every other part of her seemed to be made partly of jellyfish.

When Harry came, he muffled his moan into her neck. Then, he kissed her deeply as she kept holding tightly to him.

After kissing her forehead, he lifted her from the chair and sat down on the floor with her still on his lap.

After a minute where they simply held each other, Ginny fumbled through their dusty pile of clothes and pulled her wand out.

" _Fetus prohibeo_ ," Ginny said, tapping her lower abdomen with her wand. Light green sparks made her skin glow in a sickly sort of hue for a moment before she appeared pink again.

"Have you done that before?" Harry asked without thinking.

"No," she said, looking up at him, "Have you?"

"Of course not." He helped her to her feet. They were both a little shaky. After they both dressed, they dusted each other off, laughing as they did, and hooking an arm around her, and hers around him, they walked together through the rain back to the Burrow.


	3. Hermione's Bedroom

Mrs. Weasley was sitting at the kitchen table flipping through a cookbook while her knitting needles were working tirelessly before her. She glanced up when Ginny and Harry came in through the door. Then she looked at Ginny's hand that Harry was holding. Harry dropped it automatically. He felt sure that Mrs. Weasley knew exactly what they'd just done.

"I was wondering where you two had gone off to," Mrs. Weasley said.

"We were just waiting out the rain," Ginny said and hurried up the steps before her mother could say anything else. Harry stepped forward as though to follow her but Mrs. Weasley stood and stepped toward him.

"Harry," she said, "just please, be careful." She tapped his rain-dampened shoulder a couple of times in lieu of a hug.

"Of course," Harry said, thoroughly embarrassed. He wanted to tell her that her daughter could take care of herself but he didn't want to sound defensive. Instead, he just hurried upstairs to change out of his wet clothes.

Ron was there. Harry tore his wet clothes off, but still felt uncomfortably damp even after he changed into dry clothes.

"Oh here," Ron said, and did the wordless spell that Hermione had done for him once. To Harry's relief, Ron performed it correctly and Harry was comfortably dry.

"Thanks," Harry said.

"Where were you for so long? Helping Ginny? I figured you two would come back in when it started raining."

"Oh, er," Harry said, picking up his wet clothes from the floor. He hung them on the bed rail at the end of the bed. Ron walked over and did the wordless spell again and dried the clothes.

"You weren't snogging my sister, were you?" Ron asked, it seemed, as a joke.

"We went into your dad's shed for the worst of the storm. It was closer," Harry said. It wasn't a _complete_ lie.

"Oh, right. Did you two sort things out? I'm really starting to get tired of you two and your moon eyes."

"We don't have 'moon eyes'. What are 'moon eyes'? You're just jealous because Hermione's staying with her parents for a while. You should go visit her."

"She hasn't asked me to," Ron said, shaking his head as he sat back down on his bed.

"Well, she'd never guess that you'd be willing to do such a thing, I'm sure."

"Yeah…," Ron said.

"What were you doing up here all on your own anyway?"

"Nothing."

"Right—"

"If you must know, I was practicing nonverbal spells. We're going to have to do them for N.E.W.T.s."

"We'll have all year to work on that," Harry said flippantly.

"I wonder who our new professors will be. Do you think McGonagall will be headmistress now?"

"Who else would be?" Harry said, "I hope Slughorn is back for potions."

"You won't have a special mystery book from Snape to help you along this year though."

"Well I learned a lot from Slughorn anyhow." It was quiet for a minute while Harry folded his clothes and slid them back into his rucksack that he'd been living out of. He needed to take a trip to Diagon Alley and get a new trunk… and robes… quills, parchment, books… maybe even a new owl, though there was no replacing Hedwig.

"Alright that's it," Ron said, standing up.

"What?" For a wild moment, he thought he'd angered Ron into a fight somehow.

"I'm going to visit Hermione. You coming?" Ron was pulling his trainers on.

"Do you want me to come?"

"Of course I do," Ron said unconvincingly.

"I think I'll stay here," Harry said, though he was honestly missing Hermione's company. He'd grown so used to seeing her over the past year as he'd hardly gone a day without her until the last couple of weeks. It was strange. Maybe this was what missing a sibling was like? Harry would never know for sure.

"Suit yourself. See you, Harry." Ron hurried down the steps. He heard Ron and Mrs. Weasley exchange a few words and then the door opened and closed. Harry was alone in Ron's room.

It was so brightly orange that Harry felt forced to blink more often than normal. He wanted to leave this little bedroom but he didn't want to have to see Mrs. Weasley again. He decided he'd go see what Ginny was up to.

"Back for more?" she asked and winked when she opened her bedroom door for him.

"Er," Harry said, stepping into her room. She shut the door behind him.

"Relax, Harry. I'm just kidding," she said, flopping down onto her bed. She'd changed into a pretty yellow summer dress. It complimented her hair, which looked like it was still damp.

"Ron just went to visit Hermione," Harry tried to explain.

"Ah, so I'm second best to his company?" she asked, leaning back on her elbows.

"No—I—"

"I'm just messing with you. When did you become the one that was nervous around _me_?"

"I think it was around about the time you let me stick my tongue in your mouth."

"That's not all I let you do," she said and grinned wickedly at him. He smirked back at her.

"Tell me about the past year. I know you tried to knick that fake sword from the Headmaster's Office…"

"I didn't try. I _did_ knick that fake sword. If only Luna hadn't slowed us down by thinking there was some flibberty gibbet something or other in the windows, he wouldn't have caught us."

"What else happened?" Harry asked. He sat down next to her on her bed.

"Well, a lot of nothing. I mean, it was a lot like when Umbridge was around with what she did to you, but it was just more… public. Neville and I were left alone a lot because they knew we were purebloods, but you know, no one was safe. Closer to Christmas things got worse, around the same time that the papers were slanting you as weak for hiding. But at the same time, it was still Hogwarts. The Room of Requirement—and there was always food and shelter, not like what you went through."

"I was fine. I wasn't being tortured daily. I'd gone without meals as a little kid with my uncle and aunt. Trust me, I think you had it worse than me."

"Let's just call it even," she said, shrugging. Harry watched her shoulder as it shrugged. He loved the freckles on her shoulders—he wanted to connect the dots. Slowly, he reached his hand out to her shoulder and ran his fingertips over the skin there. She sat up and let the thin strap fall from her shoulder and so he traced his fingers along her collarbones from freckle to freckle as though he was drawing constellations.

She shivered as he drew and he saw that she'd shut her eyes. He really hadn't come here to try to have sex with her again. The first time had been surprising enough.

He let his hand drop from her chest and gazed at her and she opened her eyes and looked at him.

"I like it when you touch me like that," she said.

"I like touching you like that," he said. Gently, she cupped his face and pulled him into a kiss.

He was worried she'd grow tired of him. He was living here after all. He didn't want to force his company on her… but she was the one kissing him.

Kissing Ginny was warm and sweet and gentle. It was like coming back to the Common Room after a bad Quidditch match. It was like Treacle Tart after not eating all day. And yet, relatively speaking, it was so incredibly new.

* * *

It took Ron less than ten minutes to leave his parents' house, walk to the end of the yard and Apparate to the front gate outside of Hermione's parents' house. He wondered again why she hadn't at least visited after coming back with her parents.

It was drizzling so Ron didn't hesitate. He strode up to the front door and knocked the knocker. The house was a part of a long street of brick houses. He only knew the address because Hermione had told him a couple of weeks ago—it wasn't the house she'd grown up in, as that had been sold so they could afford the move to Australia. This house was only a rental.

When the door opened, Ron stepped back as Crookshanks ran out of the house into the front yard and under the hedge. He realized that he hadn't known whether Crookshanks was even still alive or what had happened to the mangy old cat. He was almost disappointed to see it.

"Ron," Hermione said, obviously surprised.

"Hi," he said. It was still drizzling but she wasn't moving. "Can I come in?"

"Sure," she said, swinging the door wide. He stepped past her and turned to face her.

"I had to see you," he said quietly. "I—"

"Who is it, dear?" came a woman's voice from the room to Ron's right.

"It's Ron, Mum. Remember, I told you about him?"

"Oh, yes, Ronald. Weasley, right?"

"Very good, Mum!" Hermione said, clearly elated. Hermione grabbed Ron's forearm and dragged him into a sitting room. Hermione's mother was sitting in an armchair in a sweat suit and slippers. The few times that Ron had met Hermione's parents, they'd always known who he was and they'd always been wearing very expensive-looking clothes.

This might have been the one time that perfect wand work might not have served Hermione as well as she thought it would. There was no easy fix for a Confundus Charm. You just had to remember things eventually, which was unlikely with a strong spell, or else you had to have someone teach it all to you.

"It's like they have amnesia," Hermione said, shaking her head. Ron had never heard of amnesia, but he nodded as though this made sense to him.

"You know what you need," Ron said as the idea struck him, "A pensieve." Hermione had been gazing hard at her mother, who was looking back at her and smiling. When Ron spoke though, she turned to him, her eyes wide and shining.

"Oh, Ron, you're brilliant!" Hermione said, kissing him squarely on the mouth in front of her mother. It was just a peck, but still, Ron felt himself warm and knew he was probably blushing. "Why didn't I think of that! I'm not sure if muggles can use pensieves but I'm sure it'll be easy enough to look up. I remember reading about them in _Confronting the Faceless,_ though I feel sure _Spellman's Syllabary_ mentions—come with me. My books are all up in my room," Hermione said and then she said to her mother, "I'll be right back." And grabbing, Ron's hand, they went upstairs.

Ron had never been in Hermione's room. He wasn't sure why he was expecting a girly room with pink and purple in it. But then he remembered that this hadn't been her room growing up.

"What did your old bedroom look like?"

"Like an eleven-year-old girl's bedroom. Stuffed animals, Austen novels… though I did go through a historical fiction phase right before I got my letter," she said, pulling a book from her shelf. She sat down cross-legged on the edge of her bed, next to Ron, and flipped through until she found the section on Pensieves.

"I wish I could have seen that room," Ron said. He laid back on Hermione's bed with his hands tucked behind his head.

"Mm," she said. She was ignoring him.

"We should get a flat together. I'll go work with George and you can get a job at the Ministry without your Newts."

"Ron, shh," Hermione said, "Here it is, yes. One has been used on a muggle before without any ill effects other than the fact that they wanted to kill the witch that had placed them in it. But that was the same time as the Salem Witch Trials in America so I don't think that counts."

"Right. So where can we get a pensieve except for Dumbledore's Office?" Ron wondered aloud.

"It's not Dumbledore's Office any more. It's not even Snape's anymore. I wonder if we could buy one on Diagon Alley? I'm sure I would have remembered seeing one in Hogsmeade before if they had them there. But I have a feeling they can't be bought."

"You going to chisel one out of stone and mark it with runes yourself?"

"Well, why not?"

"That sounds really dangerous if you get it wrong. What if you get stuck in it?"

"Well, then I'll just have to not do it wrong. We'll look for one first. I have to go shopping for school supplies in Diagon Alley anyway."

"So do Harry and me. We're going to come back too."

"You are?" Hermione asked, snapping her book shut.

"Yeah, why do you sound so surprised?"

"Well, Harry will never get a moment's rest. It was bad enough with the whole 'Chosen One' business. Now that he's actually done it, well… It'll just be too much. Did he actually say he was going to come back?"

"Yeah. He seemed to be looking forward to it."

"Well," Hermione said, picking at the cover of her book on her lap, "Maybe I'll be wrong."

Ron didn't want to point out the fact that she was hardly ever wrong because he didn't feel it was necessary. He knew they were both thinking it.

"I sort of talked him into it a bit," Ron admitted. "But you know, I'm only going back because you two will be there. And Mum wants me to go back."

"Ron, don't take this the wrong way… but don't you think that maybe George needs you more than we do?"

"Well, I just don't want to be without you," he said. He wondered if she thought he sounded childish but it was too late to take it back.

"There's always Hogsmeade weekends," Hermione said.

"Yeah, I'll take you to Madame Puddifoot's Tea Shop and we can drink glitter together."

"What?" Hermione said, scrunching her nose and laughing.

"Are you saying you _don't_ want to go there with me? I'll be devastated."

"Let's stick to the Three Broomsticks, shall we?"

"Oh alright but you better be prepared to snog in front of the whole school if we go there. If you're only going to see me on weekends, I won't be able to keep my hands off of you."

"You're keeping them off of me now," Hermione pointed out.

"Hmm, that's true. How stupid of me. We're wasting time," Ron said, laughing and grinning as he leaned up on his elbow and pulled her closer.

"You know, I could always sneak out to the Shrieking Shack to meet you," Hermione said as Ron kissed her cheek near the corner of her mouth.

"Oh, yeah. We can give a whole new meaning to the name of the place," he said, and kissed her lips quickly.

"Ronald Weasley!" she said, slapping his knee.

"Yes, like that. You've got the idea already," he said and kissed her cheek again. Laughing, she turned her face to his and let him kiss her lips.

Soon, their kiss deepened. Ron felt like the days that had passed in Hermione's absence had instead been years. His heart felt heavier and lighter at the same time as he kissed her. He didn't realize that it was love he felt; he only knew he didn't want to stop kissing her. Ever.

"Ron, Ron. Stop," she whispered after he tried to push her back onto her bed, "What if my mother comes up to check on us?"

"Then we'll have to stop then I guess—"

"Gah, Ron!" Hermione said, and stood up, extracting herself from his arms. Ron watched as she tried and failed to tame her fluffy hair. He could feel a row coming on. And he really didn't want to fight with Hermione. Not when she'd be staying here and he'd be leaving.

"Well," she said, crossing her arms over her chest, "It wasn't a very good joke, was it?"

"Sorry," he said, smirking at her. He loved it when she was a swotty know-it-all like that. When they were younger, he'd always wanted to grab her when she acted like this. It wasn't until relatively recently did he realize _why_ he wanted to grab her.

He stood and stepped toward her, holding her gaze. He knew he'd caught her off-guard by apologizing rather than whining or fighting back. He wondered if she was disappointed that they weren't going to fight. After all, that's what they did best.

"Ron—," Hermione said but whatever else she was going to say was cut off as he kissed her again. He grabbed her upper arms tightly so she wouldn't try to pull away so easily. Rather than pull away from his grip, he felt her relax against him.

Ron broke the kiss and Hermione lay her head down on his chest. Errant curly hairs tickled his face but he didn't mind it.

"Why don't we both just forget school and get married?" Ron said into her hair.

" _What?_ " Hermione said. He felt her shoulders stiffen as she backed up into her bookshelf away from his arms again. He let her go.

"What?" he asked. He had no idea why she was reacting this way.

"Did you just _propose_ to me?" Hermione's face was ashen.

"Well, I suppose I did…," Ron said, realizing it as he spoke.

"Ron, we've kissed like, a handful of times. We barely-"

"You can't say we barely know each other. I know you better than anyone. Even Harry, because he's never gotten to snog you."

"We're eighteen!" Hermione said, not bothering to control her voice.

"So what? We're adults."

"But we're… I mean… there's so much more… I'm not going to have seven children!" Hermione said, her hands flinging into the air as she yelled.

"I don't want seven children!" Ron yelled back. "Maybe a kid or two would be nice someday but not yet. I have had to share you with Harry for seven years. I want you to myself for a while."

"Ron, it's too soon. I'm going back to school—I _want_ to go back."

"We've practically lived together for years. I already know you're a terrible cook."

"Well, cooking fish without salt or anything isn't exactly a measure of one's aptitude in the kitchen," she said, her gaze darting to the door.

"I don't want to fight with you!" he yelled at her. The door swung open and Hermione's mother was there.

"Is there a problem here?" she asked timidly.

"Ron was just leaving," Hermione said, turning to her mother. Ron was fuming and he wasn't sure why. He grabbed Hermione's face roughly between his hands and kissed her hard, feeling Hermione's mother's gaze on him the whole time. Then he broke the kiss, though he didn't want to, and stepped away from her.

"I—ack," Hermione said as Ron strode past Hermione's mother, who darted out of the way. He Apparated back to the Burrow from the street in mid-stride.


	4. Dirty Dishes

"Ginny, have you—oh bloody hell," Ron said, stepping into Ginny's room. Ginny and Harry were both half-naked, tangled in a mess of sheets on Ginny's bed.

"Looking for Harry?" she asked calmly as she pulled the sheets up over her chest.

"Oh bloody hell," he said again and turned and left the room, letting the door slam behind him. Ginny laughed and snuggled down next to Harry again.

Harry covered his face with both of his hands and rubbed his eyes.

"Do you think he was mad?" Harry muttered through his hands.

"I don't know, would you be mad if you walked in on him in the middle of shagging your sister?"

"Does Hermione count as a sister?"

"Er, sure."

"Then no, of course not."

"Oh, then she doesn't count as a sister," she said as she tried to push Harry back down to the bed and kiss him again.

"I should go see what he wanted," Harry said between kisses.

"Don't you want to see what I want?" she asked, and lightly bit his shoulder.

"Can you really still do this knowing that Ron just saw you half naked in your bed with me?"

"Erm," she said, seeming to think about it for a minute, "yes… is that weird?"

"Can I come back tonight?" he asked as he shoved his glasses back on his face.

"Are you sure you won't be too busy with Ronniekins? Pillow talk?" Harry pulled his shirt back on and untangled himself from the sheets. As he pulled a shoe back on, he looked back at her. Ginny let the sheet fall and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Yeah, that's not all that tongue can do," he said and winked at her.

"Merlin, Harry, what exactly are you insinuating?" She picked up a pillow and threw it at him.

"You know exactly what I'm insinuating," he said, catching the pillow. He leaned forward and kissed her, pulled away, kissed her once more and then, stopping at the door only to stick his tongue out at her in return, he hurried upstairs.

Harry took a deep breath before he knocked on Ron's door. Ron answered, red-faced, and let Harry in.

"Sorry," Harry said, scratching the back of his head. He wondered how messy his hair was but knew that trying to pat it down would do nothing to tame it.

"Okay, let's just have this rule: I don't ever want to see anything like that again. I might be aware that it's happening, but I want to be able to pretend that it isn't. And you really shouldn't mess around when Mum's home. She knows everything."

"Okay, yeah—"

"And you better be serious about her. I mean, Ginny's pretty innocent. She's only sixteen…"

Harry was trying very hard not to laugh at this. Unfortunately Ron noticed.

"What? Why are you laughing?"

"I wasn't laughing."

"You know about how I feel. I don't want you messing my sister around. You can't go snogging her just because she's here, you know. What kind of friend—"

"Ron," Harry said calmly. What was he going to say? He hadn't thought it through.

"Are you two in love?" Ron asked, his voice unusually high.

"I—I don't know. We might be, yeah. I think I love her." Harry sat down on his cot and Ron sat down on his bed.

"Really?"

"Yeah, really."

"Well, that's great," Ron said, half-smiling, "You better not break her heart or I'll have to block your ears."

"I'd probably let you," Harry said. They were quiet for a minute before Harry spoke again. "Why were you looking for me, anyway?"

"Oh, that. I've decided I'm not going back to Hogwarts."

"Oh."

"I'm going to talk to George tonight since he's supposed to come 'round for dinner. I want to go work for him."

"Well, that's probably good," Harry said, relaxing back so he leaned against the wall, "I didn't want to say so, but Kingsley Shacklebolt said that I can skip N.E.W.T.s and just go straight into Auror training at the ministry if I wanted to. He figured killing Voldemort was enough recommendation."

"Wow, really?" Ron said. Harry wondered if Ron was jealous—it was why he hadn't told him until now.

"Yeah, I thought you'd be upset if I didn't go back. But if you're not going back…"

"We should get a flat together," Ron said, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees.

"Yeah," Harry said, surprised that he hadn't thought of this himself. He imagined Ginny coming by once in a while, no worries that Mrs. Weasley might walk in… Though he honestly was more worried about Ron walking in again any way.

"Yeah, we'll have to look around in Diagon Alley. Or maybe Hogsmeade, though I don't know if I'm up for Apparating every day to the twins' shop. Well, George's shop." It was quiet for a second while they both tried to ignore Ron's Freudian slip about the twins.

"Do you think George would want to live with us?" Harry asked. He wouldn't be living with Fred anymore, after all.

"I don't know," Ron said, and his eyebrows furrowed as though deep in thought, "We could ask him tonight."

"What brought all this on, by the way?" Harry asked, only just remembering that Ron was coming from visiting Hermione. "Are you having another spat with Hermione?"

"Not a spat, well a bit of a spat," Ron said. He stood and walked to his little attic window. "I may or may not have asked her to marry me just a little bit ago."

"What?" Harry asked, sure that he hadn't heard him right.

"I didn't _mean_ to do it. It just sort of happened."

"You and Hermione are engaged?" Harry stood and stepped toward Ron. Ron kept staring determinedly out the window.

"Well, no. I didn't say that," Ron said, scrunching his long nose as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Did she break up with you?" Harry wanted to shove Ron so he'd face him but he didn't.

"No. She's just… well, she's Hermione."

"Yeah," Harry said, nodding in understanding.

That evening at dinner, Ginny sat down next to Harry which was unusual because to do so, she had to sit in Ron's normal seat. This caused Ron to have to move down a seat to Fred's old chair. George's reaction to this was so solemn that Ron moved again, this time to Ginny's chair, across from Harry, and next to George. Mr. Weasley noticed none of this. Mrs. Weasley noticed all of it.

It was quiet while the mashed potatoes were passed around and then the turnips and gravy and then the chicken. After they were all served and began eating, Ginny's hand slowly crept into Harry's lap and up the inseam of his trousers. He sincerely hoped that Mr. Weasley, who was to Harry's other side at the head of the table, didn't notice the angle of his daughter's arm because there was no way that Harry was going to be able to stop her.

Harry stared down at his plate for too long while trying to make himself think about Quidditch. But then he started thinking about Ginny on a broom and it wasn't helping anymore. The tickling feeling that her hand was causing was almost like torture.

"Harry, dear, are you feeling alright? You look a little peaky," Mrs. Weasley said. Her voice was a tad lower than normal. She was sitting next to Ron in Percy's normal chair when he was here, which wasn't often.

"Oh," Harry said and cleared his throat, "Y-yes, Mrs. Weasley. I'm quite fine." He glanced at Ginny and saw that she was sniggering. She slowly took her hand away from his lap, thankfully. Harry then glanced at Ron, who was raising his eyebrows in a significant I-told-you-she-knows-everything way.

"So, Mum," Ron said, his mouth still half-full of mashed potato. "Harry and I aren't going back to Hogwarts."

"Oh?" Mrs. Weasley asked in an over-exaggerated tone.

"Really?" Ginny asked quietly. She only sounded confused, and not upset, Harry noted. He was relieved. He hadn't thought to tell her before dinner.

"Yeah, sorry I didn't tell you," Harry said quietly back to Ginny. He glanced over at Mr. Weasley and saw that he was gazing at the two of them. When Harry met his eyes though, he looked pointedly away.

"That is," Ron continued, "If you'd still be willing to give me a job, George."

"Of course," George said, smiling. "Will Harry Potter be working at the shop too? I'm sure we can come up with a job for you, Harry. Greeter? Mascot? Fortune teller? You could do the dusting...," George said, "Though it does seem to be a bit of a step down after your last employment. Killing the Dark Lord and all."

"Thanks George," Harry said, "But, actually, I've got a job offer at the ministry."

"Well, if you change your mind," George said, winking as he took a bite of chicken.

"Thanks," Harry said again.

"You're too young," Mrs. Weasley said waving her hands in the air in front of her as though she was trying to stop an on-coming train.

"Well, Harry can't go back to Hogwarts. It'd be too much for him. Could you imagine him trying to go from class to class? He's like a celebrity."

Harry imagined himself going from class to class for a moment and realized that Ron was wrong. He knew he'd be fine and actually wondered if he wasn't making a mistake in not coming back to school. He'd never gone a year at Hogwarts without mutterings of some sort. Really, he'd grown used to it over the years.

The hardest part he'd face in going back to Hogwarts, Harry thought, would probably be something like follow school rules after the freedom of living outside the school last year. He tried to imagine doing lines now—taking such a thing seriously was almost laughable.

"Oh," Mrs. Weasley said, cutting her chicken slowly, "Well, you boys are adults now. I trust that you've thought this through, Harry?"

"Yes," Harry said, though he really had not.

"But Harry," Ginny said. Though she'd whispered, all eyes were suddenly on her.

"Yeah?" he asked, unsure if now was the right time to make it obvious to her parents that they were together. He supposed he'd let it up to her.

"Nothing," she said and looked back to her plate. Harry was almost disappointed that she didn't say something to make it obvious that she wanted him back at Hogwarts with her. He couldn't help but think about what Ron had said about her—she was only sixteen and innocent. Harry wondered if Ron shouldn't have said the same words to Ginny instead of him.

It was Harry's turn to find her leg under the table. He let his hand drift to just above her knee and gave a gently squeeze. She reached under the table and grabbed his hand in hers and held it.

"We were thinking of moving out and getting a place together," Ron said.

"Where will you live?" Mr. Weasley asked, glancing from Harry to Ron, "Have you started looking for a flat yet?"

"No," Ron said, "We just—"

"George," Harry said, cutting across Ron, "Would you want to live with us?"

"Er," George said, looking down at his plate and then back to Harry and then to Ron. Ron nodded to his brother. "Thanks, but I think working all day with my brother will be quite enough for me. Living with little Ronnekins, why, my poor nose would never get a moment's rest."

"I don't stink," Ron said immediately.

"It's a manly smell," Mrs. Weasley said, patting Ron's shoulder. Ginny laughed, distracting Harry. It was sexy when Ginny laughed. Harry held her gaze when she saw that he was looking at her.

It was like there wasn't anyone else in the room when she looked at him like that.

"Well," Mrs. Weasley said, and Ginny and Harry looked quickly away from one another, "I think since this may be one of your last nights under this roof, you two may do the dishes tonight."

"Fine," Ron said scooping up more turnips.

"Without magic," Mrs. Weasley said.

"Why?" Ron whined.

"Because it might be the last time I get to tell anyone to do that," Mrs. Weasley said.

"You still have Ginny," Ron said, pointing his fork at his sister.

"Yes," Mrs. Weasley said, gazing openly at Harry, "but she'll be gone soon too."

"Cheer up, Mum," Ginny said, "You're not allowed to have empty-nest syndrome yet. I've still got one more year of school."

"You'll be a grandmother soon, too, right?" Ron said.

"Will I?" Mrs. Weasley said, snapping out of her melancholy, "How's that?! Oh! Bill and Fleur! Oh!" Mrs. Weasley's eyes had been brimming with tears a moment ago and now the tears fell from her eyes as she howled with laughter. "Oh, Merlin! For a moment, I thought you were trying to tell me that Ginny was pregnant! Oh!"

Ron and George laughed at this, but Ginny and Harry didn't. Thankfully no one else seemed to notice their silence. Mrs. Weasley stood and, waving her arms like a mother hen, she pulled her sons into a three-way hug. It was almost comical how much shorter she was than the other two, especially Ron.

"Oh, my boys," she said. "Come here, Harry. You're one of my boys too. You too Ginny, come over here."

Harry and Ginny stood and moved to the other side of the table. The hug became five-way.

"Oh, look at that. That's quite a hug," Mr. Weasley said, chuckling.

"Mmm," Mrs. Weasley said, "I love all of you." She kissed each of them on each of their cheeks—eight kisses in all. "Even though you're all going to leave me, just know that there'll always be a bed here for you."

"Not for Ron," Mr. Weasley chimed in, "I'm turning the attic back into an attic when he moves out. He can have the couch."

"Well, we'll see about that," Mrs. Weasley said. The annoyance on her face was clear.

"Thanks Mum," Ron said.

The five-way hug broke up. George announced that he was heading out—he was meeting a girl for a drink. So while Ron went back to eating, Harry started on the dishes, Mr. Weasley took his newspaper into the living room. Ginny started clearing the table, adding to Harry's work in the sink, while Mrs. Weasley went upstairs to have a bath.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Ginny said quietly to Harry. The faucet was running and they both had their backs turned to Ron, who was still sitting at the table, though he seemed to have cleaned his plate for the second time.

"We just decided it a little while ago," Harry said, "I'm sorry."

"But you said you thought it through."

"Well, my biggest reason for wanting to go back was just so I could see you every day."

"But if I'm at Hogwarts—"

"We'll figure it out. It'll be fine, right?"

"Yes, but I thought I'd finally get some time with you now."

"We'll have time together tonight," Harry said and, after glancing over his shoulder at Ron, he kissed her on the cheek.

"Yeah…," she said.

"Maybe we'll find a place in Hogsmeade. Then you can visit us on weekends." He'd have to talk to Ron into Apparating every day…

"Yeah?" she said, smiling.

"Silver lining, right?"

"Yeah," she said again, and wrapping her arms around his neck, she pulled him down to her and kissed him.

"Oi, I'm right here," Ron said, pushing back from the table and walking up to Harry's other side. He started drying the clean, wet dishes that had accumulated there.

"Get used to it, dear brother," Ginny said, and pinched Ron's cheek as she made her way back to the table to collect the rest of the dirty plates.


	5. Ginny's Room

Finally, just after midnight, Harry was listening to Ron's steady snores. Wearing only a Weird Sister's t-shirt and boxers, Harry crept out of his cot. Every step over the wooden floor caused a loud creaking noise that he swore echoed throughout the quiet house.

He decided not to knock. If she was asleep, he'd just go back up to Ron's room.

"Hey, I thought you might have fallen asleep," Ginny whispered.

"No, Ron was going on and on about the Chudley Cannons. I thought he'd never fall asleep." Ginny laughed quietly as Harry slipped into her bed. It was hot under her covers. There was enough moonlight coming in through her window that he could see her outline, but not much else. Reaching forward, he felt that she was wearing something slippery, like silk.

She took his glasses off and, leaning over him, set them on her bedside stand.

"You're going to get sick of me," he worried aloud.

"Yep," she said simply, "Get out."

"We should really tell your parents that we're dating," Harry said. They each were lying with their heads resting on her single pillow, facing each other.

"And tell them what?" Ginny asked. She didn't seem opposed to the idea, only curious as to what Harry would say.

"I don't know. I don't like sneaking around," he said, "It feels like lying."

"Mum knows, and there's no point telling Dad," Ginny said, shrugging.

"She does?"

"Of course she does. She is the one that left a book open on my desk to the page that explains the Contraceptive Charm. You didn't think I figured that out all on my own, did you?"

"I didn't really think about it…"

"Yeah." Harry ran his hand down Ginny's hair. It was smooth, like the silk of her nightgown. He watched as her eyes flutter closed. "What would we tell them, anyway? 'By the way—Mum, Dad, Harry and I are shagging every time we're alone together. But only for the last couple of days.'"

"No," Harry said immediately. "I don't know."

"Well, I'd rather wait until I'm sure you're not going to go running around the countryside for a year without me again." She opened her eyes and looked intently into Harry's.

"The way you put that, it sounds like I was on holiday."

"You know what I mean."

"I didn't want to leave you behind, but I couldn't put you in harm's way either."

"You risked putting Hermione and Ron in harm's way." She hoisted herself up onto her elbow so she was above Harry. Harry did the same so they were face to face once more.

"They knew what they were signing up for."

"I would have too… look, it's a moot point. I still had the trace on me. It's over now. I don't want to argue with you."

"But don't you understand? I didn't… you…" Harry slid back out of bed and stood at her bedside.

"Let's just say it was because I still had the trace, alright? I don't want to fight with you about it."

Harry realized that they had never once fought. This would be the first time. It made him nervous, but he couldn't help it.

"It was because I had to keep you safe. You were—you are…"

Ginny sat up. "Harry—" she said in a warning tone.

"You're everything that I wanted. You were what I was living for, if I lived. I just… I couldn't…"

"You couldn't say that to me because if you died then I would know how much I meant to you and you didn't want me to be too sad if you died?" Ginny said slowly.

"Well, yeah." But as he said it, he remembered the way she'd sounded after Hagrid had carried him back from the Forbidden Forest and everyone thought that Voldemort had killed him.

"Well, you can't protect me from everything, Harry Potter."

It was quiet for two seconds.

"Yes I can," Harry said simply.

"Ugh," she said and she lifted her covers, "Come back to bed." But Harry didn't move. "Come back to bed now, or I'll hex you."

Only then did Harry climb back into bed next to her.

In the morning, Ginny shook him awake.

"Harry, Harry, I can hear my Mum coming up. You have to go," she whispered hurriedly.

"What—," he said, pushing himself up and out of bed. She shoved his glasses on his face and was shoving him toward the door. "Where's my wand? I'll Apparate." If only he still carried the Invisibility Cloak everywhere he went…

"You didn't bring it with you," she yelled in a whisper. They could both hear Mrs. Weasley coming up the steps clearly—she was too close. Suddenly, Ginny shoved Harry into her closet and shut the door.

"Ginny," Harry protested, but the bedroom door was opening and he was already in the closet.

"Ginny," Mrs. Weasley said and it was quiet for a moment. Harry knew that Mrs. Weasley was looking for him.

"Yes, Mum?" Ginny asked. Harry was amazed at how calm she sounded. It was quiet for too long before Mrs. Weasley spoke again. Harry imagined that she had been staring at the door he was hidden behind.

"Downstairs. Now please," Mrs. Weasley demanded.

"Mum—," Ginny protested.

"Now," Mrs. Weasley said. Ginny left the room but then Harry listened as Ginny stopped and turned toward her mother.

"Aren't you coming down too?" Ginny asked.

"No, I just want a word with Harry first," Mrs. Weasley said.

Harry could almost hear it when Ginny's eyes went wide.

"I'll speak with you later," Mrs. Weasley said.

"Sorry, Harry," Ginny said. He listened as Ginny walked slowly down the stairs before he opened the closet door.

"Hi," Harry said sheepishly.

"Hello," Mrs. Weasley said. She stood with her hands on her hips in the doorway. "Come over here and sit down."

Harry did as he was told and sat on Ginny's bed. Mrs. Weasley dragged the desk chair over and sat down across from him.

"Look, I can't pretend to ignore this any longer," she said, folding her hands in her lap. "Ron told me you had gone, and he didn't know where, and yet… your hand on my clock clearly states you are here. There was only one explanation I could think of." Her apron had something green streaked on it. Had she been gardening?

"Oh," Harry said, swallowing hard.

"Arthur doesn't know about any of this, but you ought to be prepared to see a different side of him in matters concerning Ginny. We love you, Harry, like our own son, but please know-"

"I didn't mean to be so sneaky about it. I really appreciate everything you and Mr. Weasley have done for me-"

"Oh, well I understand, Harry. I remember being young once, believe it or not." She half smiled and half grimaced.

"But I'll start looking for a place this week."

"Oh, dear, I'm not kicking you out!" Mrs. Weasley said, shaking her head.

"Well, Ron and I were going to get a flat soon anyway. Might as well be sooner than later."

"I suppose," she said, pressing her lips together, "Thank you for being honest with me, Harry. I hope I don't make myself sound too… well, I'm proud of you, no matter what happens with you and Ginny. You've grown up well, Harry."

"Thanks Mrs. Weasley," he said as she tapped his cheek a few times.

"But if you cross my daughter, you shall have hell to pay." She said it so calmly that Harry got a chill down his back.

Then, she left. Harry listened to her walk down the stairs. He could barely hear it when Ginny and Mrs. Weasley started arguing with each other at the bottom of the steps.


	6. The Shrieking Shack

A week later, a wizard's real estate agent named Cassandra Wood, who looked a bit like Fleur, had shown Harry and Ron five different places. The first two flats were near Piccadilly Circus and they were both extremely expensive. Harry wondered if the woman was aware of Harry's inheritance—of which, Harry still was not sure of the exact amount—or else if she had assumed that Harry had somehow been paid to kill Voldemort. In any case, Harry and Ron decided against the first two.

The third was extremely small—Harry and Ron would have to share a bedroom. Ron was perfectly fine with this. Harry, however, was not, though he didn't tell Ron this outwardly. It also didn't have an oven as the kitchen was actually a "kitchenette". On the up side, it was in Diagon Alley, overtop of Ollivander's no less, so that was a step forward.

"You've got to be joking," Ron said, letting go of the real estate agent's arm. The three of them side-long Apparated to the fourth property. She'd wanted it to be a surprise.

"The Shrieking Shack?" Harry wondered aloud as he let go of the agent's arm as well.

"Oh, so you've heard of it?" Cassandra said, tossing her blonde hair behind her shoulder.

"Yeah, you could say that," Ron said. Cassandra started walking toward the gate. The two boys followed slowly behind.

"Splendid," she said over her shoulder, "Well, you know that this house comes with a history. Just been cleared of all ghosts—"

"This place never had any ghosts," Harry said. She heard him and he watched as her face colored and immediately felt bad. He promised himself he'd stay silent from now on for her sake.

She continued on about how it had four bedrooms, and how the attic could be converted, a large kitchen… something about plenty of potential… they'd be renting off of Hogwarts…

The three of them stopped in the front yard of the place while she talked. That was when Harry remembered about the direct line that ran under the place to Hogwarts. They'd been sealed off, but how hard would it be to open the tunnel again?

"Give us a minute, yeah?" Ron asked when Cassandra was finished with her prattle.

"Sure," she said, and stepped away a few yards until she was out of hearing distance.

"We'd be close to Hermione here," Ron said immediately, raising his eyebrows significantly.

"Yes. But Snape died here," Harry said, glancing up at the place. It could have just been his imagination, but Harry could have sworn that the house swayed with the breeze. He could tell that he'd made Ron uncomfortable by reminding him of Snape's death, but ever since seeing his mother and Snape in the Pensieve, he couldn't remember Snape's abuse over the years as clearly anymore. It had become very muddled in his mind.

"We should just move into Grimmauld Place," Ron said, "Save us the rent."

"You really want to live there?" Harry said, grimacing. Every time he thought of that place, he immediately thought of Sirius, spending his last days locked inside. Or else of the lonely, somewhat nerve-wracking days they'd spent there before they'd gone into the Ministry under disguise…

"Well, no, but do you really want to live here? In the Shrieking Shack?" Ron said, gesturing up to the place.

"No," Harry said, shrugging, "There's got to be somewhere else though."

"Well," Cassandra said, her high heels sinking into the yard as she ambled back toward them, "Don't answer yet. I've got one more place to show you. It's in Ottery St. Catchpole."

"Oh, Mum will love that," Ron said.

"Wonderful," Cassandra said, totally missing the sarcasm. Ron and Harry grabbed onto her arm again and they Apparated once more.

"I never knew there was a little town here," Harry said after they'd Apparated.

"Really?" Ron said. They both dropped Cassandra's arm. She tottered over to a door along the little village's Main Street and unlocked it. They followed her up a steep set of stairs overtop of a small deli. It was a two-bedroom and this one had an actual kitchen.

"It's nice," Harry said after the short tour.

"We're a stone's throw from my parent's house here," Ron said, gesturing toward the window. "We might as well stay at the Burrow if we move here."

Cassandra looked nervous at hearing this.

"Don't you have any other listings in Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley?" Ron asked her.

"Well," she said, folding her hands together, "The post-war market is doing quite well. I could find you houses in your price range, but flats have skyrocketed in price. If you were willing to bump up your range a little—"

"No…," Ron said, glancing around the little flat.

Harry knew he could afford more than this, but he knew that Ron couldn't. And Ron was very staunch when it came to this: he promised he'd pay half of everything. He didn't want to live off of Harry. Harry suspected that Ron still felt guilty about leaving Hermione and him over Christmas but didn't want to ask about it. That was a can of worms that Harry definitely preferred to leave shut: Harry forgave him, after all. It was Ron that seemed to have not forgiven himself entirely.

"Let's just move into Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place," Harry said, resigned. Cassandra looked utterly disappointed.

"Well, alright," Ron said, shrugging. Harry and Ron started walking back down the steps to the street. Cassandra followed them.

"I just wanted to remind you…" Cassandra said carefully, "You do own one other property, Mr. Potter."

"Do I? Where would that be?" Harry asked. He fully expected her to say the Dursley's.

"Well, your parents' property in Godric's Hollow, of course."

"I own that?" Harry was taken completely off guard. "How do you know?"

"Well," Cassandra said, her eyebrows furrowing, "Of course it's yours. Everyone knows that."

"Harry, I think you probably should take another trip to Gringott's," Ron said after Harry said nothing for a few seconds, "The deed is probably there." They reached the street again which was quite quiet. This would have been a nice place to live if Ron had agreed, Harry thought.

"I don't think I can… I think Hagrid still has the key to my vault. And anyway, did they fix all that damage from the dragon?" Harry was suddenly feeling very embarrassed by how little he knew about himself. This real estate agent—a stranger—knew he owned his parents' house and he didn't. How was such a thing possible?

Cassandra thought this was hilarious, but then Ron said, "Yeah, Dad told me that they fixed the damage the same night. It wasn't done by dark magic after all."

"Oh, that's good," Harry said as Cassandra forced herself to stop laughing.

"Anyway, about getting into the vault—Mum and Bill got money out for you that one time…"

"Does your mother have the key then?" Harry asked. He really should know where this key is.

"I don't think so."

"Well," Cassandra said, "I should really get home. Oliver awaits. Let me know if you change your mind. I can show you some houses and list your older properties if you want."

"Is your husband Oliver Wood?" Harry asked suddenly.

"Oh yes, I thought you put that together?" Cassandra said.

"Oh, tell him 'hello' from me. He taught me how to play Quidditch. Good guy," Harry said as they stood from the table.

"Alright," she said smiling. With a final wave, she Apparated away on the spot.

"Well then," Ron said, starting to walk in the direction of the Burrow, or so Harry assumed. "Come on, it's dinnertime. I can almost smell my mother's cooking from here." Harry caught up to his side and the two started walking out of the village and over a huge green hill. They had to climb over a fence and walk past grazing sheep before long.

"Are you alright with the house idea?" Harry asked.

"Well, yeah, it makes more sense." It was quiet as they walked for a few minutes.

"It's sort of crazy that you grew up next to all of this," Harry commented, staring over at the sheep.

"What, all the riches you mean?" Ron said scoffing.

"In a manner of speaking. Yeah, fine you grew up with not a lot of money, but come on. This is your backyard. You have a pond by your house. If I wanted to go outdoors at the Dursley's, I sat in the shrubs outside of a cheap row house. Or to a playground."

"Grass is always greener, I suppose...," Ron said. He bent down and pulled up a long, grassy weed and bit at the end.

"You must truly be hungry," Harry said, seeing Ron roll the grass between his lips. As they crested the hill, the sun was back in their eyes again as it set. On the horizon, the Burrow sat squat to the ground in its little clearing.

"I am," Ron said sincerely, "What do you think Hermione will say to us living in a house instead of a flat?"

"I don't know. Hadn't thought about it," Harry said. He had started wondering what Ginny would say though. Probably that it was a horrible idea…

It was quiet again while they grew nearer to the Burrow. Harry could definitely smell dinner now—the scent wafted out of the open kitchen window.

"That's got to be steak and kidney pie," Ron said, sniffing at the air, "Oh, how I'll miss my mother's cooking…."

"I bet she'll still have you 'round once in a while."

"I hope so."

"So Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place then."

"I'm fine with it," Ron said shrugging.

"It'll only be for a little while," Harry said, more to reassure himself than Ron.

"Right," Ron agreed.


	7. Moving Out

The next morning, Harry met Ginny in the kitchen. She was in her robe and slippers, which were pink and clashed horribly with her hair. She was drinking a glass of pumpkin juice.

"'Morning," Harry said to her. He was still in his pajamas—a t-shirt and pajama bottoms. "Where's your mum?" They appeared to be the first two up.

"In the yard hanging clothes to dry-Harry we need to talk."

"Oh, that doesn't sound good…"

"Look, I was talking with Mum yesterday, and-"

And someone cleared their throat from the bottom of the steps.

"Mr. Weasley!" Harry said, jumping away from Ginny, even though he hadn't even been touching her.

"'Morning," he said, with a befuddled expression on his face. He sat down in his normal seat and poured himself some pumpkin juice. He had to push a gift basket out of the way to reach the jug.

Harry hurriedly grabbed the basket and moved it out of the way, hitting the jug. Luckily Ginny saved it with a hover charm before it spilled all over Mr. Weasley.

"Sorry," Harry mumbled, feeling heat radiate up out of his collar.

"Quite alright," Mr. Weasley said, and then took a sip of juice. Mrs. Weasley came in from the yard then with a basket balanced against her hip.

"Morning," Mrs. Weasley announced to the room as she passed through. She flicked her wand at the oven as she passed. On the countertop, a bowl of batter, which Harry hadn't noticed until now, started pouring dollops of itself into the pan on the stove.

Mrs. Weasley was making pancakes while she wasn't even in the room.

Harry and Ginny set about clearing this morning's gifts from the table in order to make spots for themselves. Soon after, Ron and George came downstairs. The pancakes flipped themselves.

"Morning," Ron mumbled, yawning. George said nothing as they both sat in their usual seats. It was relatively quiet until Mrs. Weasley bustled into the room and started serving everyone breakfast.

"So, my youngest son is moving out today," Mrs. Weasley said, breaking the silence as they started eating. Harry's stomach was churning. What was Ginny going to say before Mr. Weasley came down? He was tempted to just outright ask her here at the table…

"I'm going to head back to my apartment, too, Mum," George said without looking up from his plate.

"What? Today? Surely not," Mrs. Weasley said.

"I might as well get on with it," George said. Harry glanced over at Mr. Weasley, who glanced back at him and then to George.

"At least wait a day. I'll come with you and help you sort things out."

"Actually," George said, "Angelina said she'd come by and help me sort things out."

Harry wondered if anyone else noticed how Fred wasn't mentioned once.

"Oh," Mrs. Weasley said, as though mildly surprised, "Well then. Alright. I suppose I'll help Ron and Harry then."

"Harry's only got the one rucksack to his name, Mum. And I haven't exactly got loads of stuff either," Ron said, but then when he looked up at his mother he quickly added, "But you know, if you wanted to help us… you know I'm sure there's lots of cleaning to be done."

"No, no, I understand. You all have to flee the nest," she said. Harry was starting to feel bad about leaving, but really it had sort of been her fault. He honestly wasn't looking forward to living at Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, but he didn't really have another choice at the moment that was much better.

"By the way, Mum," Ron said, glancing at her, "You don't happen to have the key to Harry's vault do you?"

"No, of course not. Harry, you don't have it?"

"No," Harry said.

"Well, that's peculiar," Mr. Weasley said.

"Yes, isn't it? You should have been given it on your seventeen birthday…"

"We were all a bit preoccupied that day, in case you don't remember," George said, wiggling his remaining ear.

"Oh, Hagrid must still have it then," Mr. Weasley said.

"I'll go visit him then at some point," Harry said, shrugging.

"Well, with the reconstruction after the battle still going on, I'm not sure they'll let you on the grounds," Mrs. Weasley said, looking to Arthur.

"Oh, yes, they didn't want any students helping."

"We're not students anymore," Ron interjected.

"But I added you onto the list of students coming back and haven't taken you off yet," Mrs. Weasley said, and then waved a hand as though trying to shoo a fly away, "I'll drop by Hogwarts today. I've been meaning to go by this week to see if I can help with fixing the dark magic destruction. I'll get your key off of Hagrid and then tell Minerva that you won't be coming back. I have to say, she'll probably be a bit disappointed."

"She'll get over it," Ron said with his mouth full of pancake.

* * *

After breakfast, Ron went up to finish packing up his things. Ginny, meanwhile, silently led Harry to her bedroom.

When she turned to face him, after he shut the door behind himself, he had a sickening feeling in his stomach. Like he was waiting for her to tell him that someone else was dead.

"What?" he asked finally, after it was quiet for a moment.

"Harry," Ginny said, swallowing hard, "Look, the last few days have been great, but I'm going to be going back to Hogwarts soon…"

"I know."

"And you're going to be busy in your new job as a novice Auror, with training and everything. It's supposed to be quite intense."

"Yeah." She dropped herself onto the edge of her bed and Harry sat down beside her.

"Things have been just moving too fast," she said, shaking her head as she finally looked up at Harry.

"Hold on," Harry said, finding it difficult to keep looking at her, "Are you finished with me?"

"Well," Ginny said, looking down at her lap, "I was talking to Mum… and…"

"And she told you to break things off with me?"

"No, but she helped me realize some things… I'm just not ready for this. It's too much."

"So you're finished with me," Harry clarified.

"Oh, Harry, I'm so sorry."

"You're joking right?" He stared at her and she stared back until she looked away, out the window. That was answer enough.

"Were you just messing me about? Is that what this was?" Harry asked, feeling his temper rising. "Were you mad at me or something? Revenge for breaking up with you before?"

"No, of course not."

"Well, then it was just convenience then? I happened to be here so you took advantage of an easy shag…" Harry could hear himself and couldn't believe what he was saying. He knew he should hold his tongue but he just couldn't. He never would have imagined in a million years that Ginny would break up with him. She'd had a crush on him forever. The first time he ever saw her sprang into his mind.

"I'm so sorry Harry," she said. The tears in her eyes annoyed him. If she was so upset, then why break things off? "I just need to figure some stuff out. Things are just moving too fast."

"Got it," he said, "But I hope you realize that you are the one that made it that way." He forced himself to speak more quietly, "I didn't force you to sleep with me in the shed the other day. That was all you."

"I know, I know," she said, shaking her head again, "It was stupid of me. I'm sorry."

"God, Ginny," he said, running a hand through his messy hair, "What great timing. The same day that I'm leaving you break up with me. You have to realize what this looks like, don't you?"

"I know," she said again, and looked pointedly out the window again. Harry wanted to shake her but instead he simply left the room. He thought if he stayed in that room any longer, he wouldn't be able to keep his hand from the wand in his pocket.

He ran up the steps to Ron, who was still packing.

"Aren't you done yet?" Harry asked, the anger obvious in his voice.

"Just about," Ron said, looking up at him with a furrowed brow. "What's wrong?"

"Your sister," Harry said, gritting his teeth. He wanted to say that she was a slag, but he couldn't say such a thing to Ron, even if it seemed to be true.

"Did she hex you?" Ron asked in a sympathetic tone, his eyebrows relaxing again, "She's probably just torn up about you leaving."

"No. She's finished with me."

"What?"

"You heard me. Your sister is finished with me."

"And here I was always worried that you would be the one messing her about…," Ron said, looking around the room with wide eyes as though he'd just had an epiphany. "Here she was the one messing you about. How odd."

"Thanks," Harry said shortly. He picked up his rucksack and was sorely tempted to Apparate away from this very spot. "So are you ready?"

"Yeah," Ron said, glancing around once more, "I think so… I can't believe it. Are you sure you heard her right?"

"I heard her perfectly clear. You only have the one box?" Harry asked, momentarily distracted. But then he realized it just as Ron explained.

"Magically expanded. Like Hermione's purse."

"Right. Let's go then."

* * *

The two Apparated to Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place. Ron had Apparated to the front step, seemingly out of an old habit. Harry had Apparated to the front curb.

"Have you been here since that day?" Ron asked him once Harry had come up the steps to meet him.

"No." When he opened the door, which wasn't locked, he realized he should not have been surprised to find the house ransacked.

"I didn't kill you," Harry said quietly before the dust-ghost could pick up much momentum.

"Maybe we should keep that, it brings back memories," Ron said. Kingsley Shacklebolt had told Harry a spell that might work to remove the fake ghost and Harry was wracking his brain trying to remember it.

" _Sevoco_ ," Harry said and moved his wand the way Shacklebolt had shown him. There was a loud popping noise and a puff of smoke where the ghost usually originated.

"Come on," Harry said. They went back outside, leaving Harry's Rucksack and Ron's magically-enlarged cardboard box. When they came back in, Harry was rather pleased with himself. The fake ghost of Dumbledore was gone.

"Well done, mate," Ron said, clapping Harry's shoulder.

"Thanks."

"You know who we really need right now," Ron said as the two of them looked around the jumbled mess of torn papers and crushed china that was all over the place.

"Hermione," Harry said. Ron nodded in agreement as he pointed his wand at the nearest broken piece of china and muttered " _Reparo_." The china flew back together to reveal itself as an expensive-looking ashtray.

"Where is Pigwidgeon by the way?" Harry asked.

"Oh, Pig will be along. He was with my family last year and they didn't really have another owl since Errol died of old age. Anyway, he'd really been Percy's."

"Oh, sorry to hear that."

"Yeah, so I'm lending them Pig for a few days but then they said that I'd have him as soon as they got a replacement."

"Let them keep him, I'm going to get a new owl." Harry started Wingardium Leviosa-ing any bit of garbage he saw in his path. Soon there was a small swarm of garbage trailing behind him. Ron, of course, didn't think this was strange.

"We should have a party," Ron said.

"Why?" He didn't see much point. Who would they even invite?

"As a house warming… and your eighteenth birthday is coming up. And because you never properly celebrated the fact that you sort of achieved your life's goal."

Harry stopped dead at this.

"I did, didn't I?" Harry said. He'd honestly never thought of it that way. "Bit young for such a thing, don't you think?"

"A house party?" Ron asked, but then he said, after looking at Harry, "Oh, you mean the life goal part. Well, there's still the normal things people do… you know, get married, have kids, all that."

"Right," Harry said. Well that wasn't even in the cards anymore. He doubted he'd ever find a girl who would see him as just Harry and not something else. Probably Ginny had only seen him as a conquest. How could he have deluded himself into thinking he'd meant more to her?

He'd only ever dated Cho Chang before her and he'd been her rebound…

A knock came at the door that was so soft that if they had been speaking, they probably would have missed it. As it was, because of the ankle-deep rubbish over the floor, they hadn't even made it out of the front hallway near the door.

They both were immediately on guard. Harry was the first to relax, oddly.

"It's probably just your mum," Harry said, trying to laugh. He went to the door and opened it, reminding himself that it couldn't possibly be Voldemort or any of his worst followers…

"Hermione!" Harry exclaimed. She pulled him into a hug.

"Harry, I'm so sorry," she said.

"Wha—" was all Harry said.

"Is Ron-," she asked but then she quickly released Harry and ran into Ron's arms.

"Hi," Ron said, hugging her back. She kissed his cheek before releasing him.

"How'd you know we were here?" Harry asked.

"Well," she said, glancing over the rubbish on the floor and the stuff still floating behind Harry. "Er, well, I went by the Burrow just now and Ginny said you'd moved out. I was a bit put out that this is the first I'm hearing of this."

"Well, maybe if you didn't live under a rock with your parents then maybe you would have known," Ron said. Harry met his eyes and slightly shook his head. Ron made a 'well it's her fault' face. Hermione didn't seem to notice.

"Ron," Hermione said, "I'm sorry… I have just been feeling so guilty about my parents… and well, yesterday, they decided that they're going to move back to Australia. They know I can Apparate to see them if I need to… so they told me," she said, and she started wordlessly reparo-ing things near her feet. Harry was impressed by her wordless magic and was mildly distracted by it. "That they love me, but they can't go back to their old lives. And they're sorry."

Ron pulled her into his arms and hugged her. She hugged him back and quickly let go.

"So," she said, wiping her eyes, "What a crap day, huh Harry?"

"Yeah."

"Did you two only just get here?"

"Yes," Harry answered again.

"Right." She started doing spells of protection first, and did a locking spell on the front door. Then, she incinerated and banished the rubbish that had been floating behind Harry. The three then set to work with _reparo_ and _scourgify_ spells.

Later, after Ron complained most thoroughly that he was absolutely starving, and Harry mentioned that he was also hungry, the three of them started to walk to a little deli shop a few roads down. It was a hot day.

"I was saying to Harry before you came that we ought to have a party," Ron said to Hermione.

"Oh? What does Harry think of this?" Hermione was holding Ron's hand. Harry couldn't stop glancing at their interlocking fingers.

"Sure. I'm up for it," Harry shrugged. Maybe it'd make him feel a little better about Ginny breaking up with him.

"Ginny told me what happened, Harry," Hermione said cautiously, dropping Ron's hand and crossing her arms over her chest despite the heat.

"Yeah?" Harry really didn't want to talk about it. He was still utterly confused.

"She'll come 'round," Ron said encouragingly.

"I don't think so," Harry said. They'd made it to the shop and ordered food. Hermione paid as she was the only one with muggle money. Harry promised he'd pay her back but she waved him off.

"I went to Diagon Alley the other day to shop for school," Hermione said conversationally once they started eating at a little booth by the window. "And I saw Neville."

"Oh yeah?" Ron asked with a mouthful of sandwich.

"Yeah he's going to be the new herbology professor," Hermione said, "Professor Sprout is retiring. He said there's going to be a bunch of new professors. Oliver Wood is taking over for Madame Hooch. But he said Flitwick and Slughorn are both going to be back. McGonagall is headmistress now but they still haven't found a replacement professor for her. Or for Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"We ought to invite Oliver and Cassandra to the party," Ron said.

"Really?" Harry imagined himself as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor for a minute, but even imagining it made him feel too much like a has-been. He wanted to be able to fight if was ever a fight to be fought. Not teach everyone else… though in fifth year, he did enjoy seeing everyone's progress in the D.A.

"When is this party going to be, anyway? There isn't even any food in the house," Harry pointed out.

"We don't need food for the party," Ron said, "I've sort of been taking all the firewhiskey and butterbeer that you'd been getting over the last couple of weeks."

"Well, I suppose that'll cut down on a bit of expense," Hermione said, raising her eyebrows. Harry only shrugged.


	8. The Party at Number Twelve

Two days and a few hours later, Harry was thoroughly drunk on firewhiskey. It really wasn't his fault. Not completely anyway.

It was somewhat Hermione's fault, Harry decided.

After all, if it hadn't been for Hermione, then Ginny wouldn't have been accidentally invited. Why Ginny came was beyond Harry. He thought she wanted nothing more to do with him, after all.

Harry moved through the house as though he didn't belong there. Probably a hundred different past Hogwarts students had shown up at different points. He noticed that Oliver and Cassandra had shown but left relatively early. Neville, Luna, Seamus, Dean, the Patils… even Bill and Fleur, oddly.

Toward midnight, while the party had thinned but was still going strong, Harry needed the bathroom but couldn't quite remember where it was.

He finally found it and was half-way through urinating into the toilet before he realized that Luna was also in the bathroom. She was in the claw-footed bathtub, more accurately.

"Oh, Luna, sorry," Harry said when he belatedly noticed her long blonde hair flowing over the edge of the tub.

"Oh, Harry, it's quite alright," she said as dreamily as she ever did. Once Harry finished urinating, the toilet flushed itself and he washed his hands. And just then, Neville burst into the unlocked bathroom.

"Got it!" Neville exclaimed, brandishing a little bag.

"Is that spliff?" Harry asked, scrunching his nose.

"It's Wizard's Weed," Neville said.

"You want some, Harry?" Luna asked sitting up a little when Neville sat down in the bathtub with her. There wasn't any water in it, Harry was thankful to notice.

"Looks like there's not quite enough room in there for me," Harry said, turning to leave.

"Aw, come on Harry," Neville said. He grabbed Luna's hand and pulled her up and out of the bathtub. Harry noticed that he was turning back to face Neville without making the decision to do so. The three of them sat down on the white marble floor of the bathroom in a triangle.

A knock came at the door then. When the three of them glanced between each other and didn't answer the knock, Hermione came in.

"Harry, are you alright in there—oh, sorry, I didn't… what are you three doing?" Hermione asked, eyes wide. She flicked her wand at the door and it shut and locked itself. The overloud Weird Sisters' music was muffled.

"Wizard's Weed," Neville said, as he rather skillfully rolled a joint.

"It lets you see a path to your future," Luna said, "but every time I do it, I see something different. It's so strange."

"It's a load of rubbish," Hermione said, sitting down next to Harry. "According to Divination theory, it's supposed to allow you to see one of your twelve possible Fates. But of course that's just what people say so they can have a reason to do the stuff. I was worried that you were sick in here, but seeing as you're fine…" She stood from her crouch.

"Hermione, will you just relax for once?" Harry said, patting her knee. She raised an eyebrow and didn't move until he grabbed her wrist and pulled her back down to the floor. "It's not like we're in a hurry to go murder a dark lord. Sit." Their triangle became a square.

"Out of the sake of curiosity," Hermione said, glancing around to the three of them, "I will do this. But this never leaves this room."

"Got it," Neville said, grinning, "I doubt it'd look good if anyone knew a Hogwarts professor did this." Luna smiled as though she was already high on the stuff. Harry wondered if she didn't do the stuff more often and had simply hidden it well.

Neville raised the joint to his lips and surprisingly enough to Harry, Hermione did a silent spell and fire flickered from the tip of her wand like a lighter. After the joint was lit, she flicked it like a match to put it out.

Neville took a drag first and then handed it to Luna, who also took a drag.

As she handed it to Harry, she said, "Best not to inhale at first."

Harry tried not to inhale but of course ended up coughing afterward anyway. Hermione went next and coughed as well.

"Do you do this often?" Harry asked Neville and Luna. Neville shrugged and Luna didn't pay attention—she was staring off into space.

"See, nothing is happening," Hermione said. Harry thought she sounded a little disappointed. But then her eyes glazed over. And then Harry couldn't see for a few seconds.

When his vision came back in black and white dots, Harry thought he might have passed out. He was confused for a few seconds, but then he remembered: it's the happiest day of his life.

He was in St. Mungo's but instead of lying in a hospital bed, he was standing next to one. The woman in the bed was holding a baby with black, curly hair and gray eyes.

"Harry," she said, "What do you think of naming him James? After your father?"

"That sounds great, Hermione," Harry said, and leaned over and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. He sat down on the edge of her bed and laced his arm behind her and held her. Harry wished Ron could have been there, but too much had come to pass now. He doubted he'd ever speak to Ron again. But Hermione, Harry's Hermione, was so happy. Harry would never remind her of him at a moment like this.

Their first baby. He wished his parents were alive to see it, or that Hermione's parents would have been able to make the trip from Australia. As it was, Harry would have to be enough for her. For both of them now.

"I love you, Harry," Hermione said, glancing up from her newborn, who was fast asleep in her arms.

"I love you too, 'Mione," Harry said, smiling back at her, "More than anything."

"He looks like you," she said, "Well, except his hair is curly, like mine. Poor thing."

"He's wonderful," Harry reassured her and squeezed her shoulder. She turned her face and kissed him on the lips as though she did it every day—because she did.

Harry's vision went spotty again and when he came-to, he was on the bathroom floor again. He had his arm around Hermione and to his utter surprise, he was kissing her. And she was kissing him back, her arms cradling a nonexistent baby.

When he realized what he was doing, he jumped away from her. Luna and Neville were staring at Harry and Hermione as though they'd both just caught fire. Hermione seemed to come-to a few seconds after Harry, and she looked down at her empty arms in disbelief.

Harry didn't blame her. The vision seemed so real. As real as real life.

"What was that about?" Neville asked, his eyebrows raised up as high as they would go on his forehead. Harry glanced at Hermione and saw that her cheeks were crimson.

"I think there must be a possibility that they fall in love someday," Luna said to Neville in the most serious voice that Harry had ever heard her use, "You'd think if that was going to happen then it already would have. But I guess there are lots of different paths…"

"What did you two see then?" Harry asked, desperate to get the attention off of himself and Hermione.

"Oh, I saw myself swimming in the Niles River, travelling the world. Sometimes I see myself married to Neville, sometimes to a man I haven't met yet. It's so interesting, don't you think?"

"I saw myself teaching herbology," Neville shrugged, "Not a lot of mystery there, since I've already accepted the position."

Hermione glanced at Harry and then stood and hurried from the room, unlocking and opening the door with a flick of her wand as she did.

Harry held his head in his hands, grabbing tufts of hair as he did.

"Why did I kiss her?" Harry wondered aloud.

"I think that probably has something to do with the alcohol," Luna said, "It makes you lose the disconnection you get between vision and reality. I've never done this while drunk though so I'm not sure, but I did come-to once with Neville kissing me. He'd had a butterbeer that day."

"Oh," Harry said, regretting his question. He wondered if Neville and Luna were dating now but didn't want to ask.

"Harry, you should probably go talk to Hermione maybe? Decide whether you want to tell Ron about it," Neville suggested.

"Yeah, you're probably right," Harry said. It took him a minute, but he finally got himself to stand and walk back out into the loud music and crowd.

He found Ron first, who was doing shots with Dean and Seamus.

"Have you seen Hermione?" Harry called over the music.

"No," Ron said, smiling goofily. "Ginny was looking for you though."

"Oh," Harry said. Just who he wanted to see. Did she want to explain to him at length why he wasn't good enough to keep dating? He wasn't up for it.


	9. Drunken Kisses

Harry wove his way through the tipsy crowd. He had to find Hermione. He saw Ginny soon after Ron. She'd called to him from across the kitchen but Harry only shook his head and turned away.

Finally, after no success on the lower floors, he went back up the stairs. He found her. She was sitting on Sirius' old bed. It was a bedroom that Harry hadn't actually been in while living here for the last couple of days. It still appeared to be ransacked.

"Hermione," Harry said, stepping over the rubbish, "I…" Should he apologize? It wasn't really his fault, was it?

"I don't want to talk about it," she said without looking up from her lap.

"Please don't be upset about it. It wasn't real," Harry said. He sat down next to her on the bed, unsure if he should. After the winter and Christmas together, Harry had felt sure that if she'd ever had any feelings for him, they probably would have come out then. Not that he had really thought about her that way then.

Honestly, Harry had never really thought of Hermione that way. She'd always just been Hermione. He was forced to think about it now, though.

He thought over the vision, or Fate, or whatever it was. The way Hermione had looked at him while holding their child… It was almost worse than looking at the false projection from the locket before Ron had killed it. And yet, it was somehow good. In the vision, he'd felt something. It was more love than he'd ever felt—a warmth in his heart so comforting, so whole, as though there was almost too much blood for his heart to beat properly.

"But it wasn't real," Harry said to Hermione.

"Right," she said. Her voice sounded hollow to him.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"Why be sorry? It's not like anyone is forcing that future to happen. Divination is just a load of rubbish anyway. Even if it _were_ to be real, which it isn't, it would only be one of twelve possible Fates."

She looked up at him and only then did Harry realize how close they'd been sitting. Harry recalled the kiss they'd shared in the vision. It had been so real… because it really had been real, even if they were drunk and high, they'd kissed while technically unconscious in the real world.

It was rather confusing. Harry knew that he'd liked it. He watched Hermione gaze at his mouth and knew that she must be remembering it too.

But Ron… wasn't she in love with Ron? They could never do this to him.

"Ron can't know about this," Hermione said without looking away.

"Of course not," Harry said automatically. Did she mean she was about to kiss him again or about the first one with the vision?

What would Ginny say? Right, Ginny wouldn't care…

And as though he'd been summoned there, Ron stumbled in through the door.

 _Speak of the devil and doth he appear_. Harry hadn't meant to use Legilimency on Hermione but it seemed as though he'd let her guard down for that moment. Or maybe it was because Harry had so badly wanted to know what she was thinking in that moment. Hermione stood suddenly and Harry followed.

Her thought distracted him: did she always think in old English?

"There you two are," Ron said. He was clearly very drunk.

"Oh Merlin, Ron, how much have you had?" Hermione said, striding forward. Ron slung his arm around Hermione's shoulders. Harry stared at them.

"What were you two doing up here?" Ron asked, his eyebrows furrowing.

"Harry's just upset about Ginny," Hermione explained quickly, shooting Harry a look. Harry nodded in agreement to Hermione's statement. It wasn't untrue, but it also wasn't the answer to Ron's question.

"Well," Ron said with his nose in Hermione's hair, "Ginny left, so no worries. You two should come back down."

"Right," Harry said. He strode forward and tried to pass by his two best friends. But Ron slung his other arm around Harry's shoulders.

"I love you both," Ron said, holding Hermione and Harry closer to himself in the doorway. Harry stumbled as he half-tripped over one of Ron's feet. Harry couldn't believe it when, with an awkward side-long glance up at Ron's face, he noticed that tears were streaming down his cheeks. Had someone told him about the Fate already? "So much. I love you Hermione," Ron said and kissed her sloppily on her mouth. Guess not.

"I love you, too, Harry," Ron said and rested his forehead against Harry's. Harry glanced over at Hermione, whose face was only inches from his own. He'd expected her to be amused, but she was staring blankly, her mouth slightly agape.

Harry squirmed slightly as he tried to gently extricate himself from Ron's grasp. Ron was holding onto him too tightly. If he wanted to break free, he'd have to be more violent… Harry turned his face away because he didn't want to rebreathe Ron's alcohol-breath.

"Ron," Hermione tried, "I think you've had a bit too much. How about you lie down for a while." Ron ignored her though. Instead, he kissed Harry's cheek.

"Ron," Harry said in a warning tone. Ron didn't seem to hear him. But then Hermione moved, pressing Ron up against the doorframe. Harry was forced to come with them because of Ron's firm grip on him, but he turned slightly so he was facing Hermione. Harry watched as Hermione started snogging Ron, hard. He was readily returning her kisses.

Mercifully, Ron released Harry, who immediately backed up a few steps. Harry felt relieved, as though he'd been let off the hook somehow. No amount of alcohol could have gotten Harry to kiss Ron…

Harry practically ran down the steps. He couldn't get the image of Hermione kissing Ron from his mind, as though it had been burned into the backs of his eyes. Desperately, he hoped that Ron wouldn't remember any of it in the morning.

* * *

"Come on," Hermione said, pulling away and pulling Ron toward the black, canopied bed.

"Seriously?" Ron asked. His eyes seemed to twinkle. Hermione wondered if it was from the alcohol. It was the look he would get on Christmas morning.

"Mm," she said, nodding. He stepped toward her and, grabbing at her dress, he pulled at the straps from her shoulders. She felt a shiver come over herself as it fell to the floor.

Without looking, Hermione took Ron's wand from his back pocket and aimed it at the door. It slammed shut and locked. Ron didn't seem to notice. Then, she dropped his wand amongst the rubbish and pulled his shirt over his head.

Hermione sat down on the bed and Ron leaned down over her, kissing her all the while.

"I've missed you so much," Ron said, slightly slurring his words.

"I've missed you too," Hermione said. Once Ron leaned closer, she guided him down to his back. Then, straddling him, she started trailing kisses down his neck to his chest.

And then, she heard the unmistakable sound of Ron snoring. Looking up at his face, she froze. For a moment, she watched as he slept.

She was more relieved than anything. Gently, she crept off of him and tiptoed back to where they'd dropped some of their clothes.

Once she found her dress again and slipped it on, she pulled her wand from its special pocket sewn into the side. Then, using a hover charm, she lifted Ron so his head was resting on a pillow. She set his shirt down next to him on the bed. Then she covered him with the bedclothes and left his wand on the bedside stand.

With a kiss on his forehead, she unlocked the door and went back down to the party.


	10. Diagon Alley

The next day, Ron, Hermione and Harry had not spoken about Ron's drunken behavior. Ron had woken slightly confused and entirely hung over. Hermione told him that they'd kissed, which he seemed to be relieved by: he had no recollection of anything that had happened.

They spent the day cleaning up the house. None of them spoke much as Ron was hung over and Harry and Hermione could barely look at one another. Every time he even so much as glanced at her, Harry remembered kissing her.

That evening, they Apparated to Diagon Alley. Hermione announced that she wanted to try to find a Pensieve so Harry suggested they try Potage's Cauldron Shop first. When they had no luck there, the shop owners said to try asking Ollivander to make one.

Harry was mildly surprised that Ollivander had opened his shop back up after his lengthy stay in the Malfoy's dungeon.

When the three came in, it was quiet except for the little tinkling sound of a bell and Harry immediately was transported in his mind back to when he'd first entered this shop. The place appeared just as it always had… except the cubbies that usually held all the wands were mostly empty.

Ollivander came out of the backroom and gazed at the three.

"Harry Potter," Ollivander said, smiling slightly, "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"What happened to all the wands?" Ron asked.

"When the windows were blown in, the wands were banished to different hidden places all over the world. I'd done the enchantment on the shop years ago when the first battle had been fought. Unfortunately, many of the wands still have not found their way back. It may take years for the reversal spell to work on some of them."

Ron looked like he was sorry that he asked.

"Mr. Ollivander," Hermione said, stepping up to the front display area which Ollivander stood behind. "I was wondering if you could help me. I am looking to buy a Pensieve."

"Ah," Mr. Ollivander said, his eyes going wide for a second. "That's some pretty complicated magic. Unfortunately, they are not something that may be cheaply bought."

"How much does a Pensieve normally go for?" Harry asked.

"Twenty thousand galleons," said, raising an eyebrow, "It takes months, sometimes years, to recover after making one and I'm still quite frail… but I have my own debt to be paid to you, so I am willing to drop it to a thousand galleons. That will cover the price of the stone required."

"I wouldn't want you to harm yourself, Mr. Ollivander," Hermione said glancing to Harry. "Would you be willing to teach me to make one instead?"

"I feel certain I would survive the creation of a Pensieve, or I would refrain from offering," Ollivander said, "but yes, I will teach you. I feel certain that you will make a worthy student." Harry looked at Hermione and saw that she seemed worried. But then Harry realized what her face meant. Yes, she was worried for Ollivander, but also, she didn't have a thousand galleons to spend.

"I'd like to pay for the stone," Harry said quietly to her. Hermione's gaze snapped to Harry.

"Oh, of course not, Harry. I couldn't possibly let you do that. It's far too much money to spend on a whim for me."

"I insist," he said, smiling. "I can't help but feel like it's my fault that you need it at all." She half-smiled back.

"Fine," she said simply, "Thanks, Harry."

After a trip to Gringott's (Mrs. Weasley had gotten Harry's key off of Hagrid for him) Harry withdrew twelve-hundred galleons. While in the vault, he found a small stack of papers there. Rather than read them by wand light, He took the whole stack of papers with him. The goblin with him had even provided a folder for them.

After Ollivander was paid for the Pensieve's stone, Hermione went to buy Hogwarts student's robes while Ron and Harry went to Eeylops Owl Emporium. Even though Harry wasn't planning on going back to Hogwarts anymore, he decided he should still get another owl.

"How about another snowy owl?" Ron suggested. Harry didn't want to try to replace Hedwig, but he also didn't want to tell Ron this.

"Snowy owls attract too much attention," he told him instead. He continued walking through the Owl Emporium until his gaze landed on an auburn and gray owl. It was stocky and small, but not nearly as small as Pigwidgeon. Harry met the bird's eyes and then wordlessly held his arm out to him.

The owl flew to Harry's arm. This owl would never be Hedwig, but this owl was pretty cool too.

"Looks like he likes you," said a sales girl who was walking toward Harry, but then when Harry turned to look at her she stopped dead. "Oh Merlin, you're Harry Potter."

"No, just a look-alike," Ron said flatly.

"Oh," she said, glancing between Harry and Ron. Harry gritted his teeth to keep from laughing. "Oh, you're having me on!" She laughed. "Can I have your autograph?"

"Uh," Harry said, feeling the smile fall off of his face. "Alright." He still had an owl perched on his arm. The owl seemed to realize that he was over-staying his welcome though and flew back to his previous perch up on the wall.

Harry gave her an autograph in the back of a book she'd been reading. Though she tried to give Harry the owl for free, he'd insisted on paying.

"Oh, what'd you name her?" Hermione asked. Rather than try to find her, as they knew she had a lot of school shopping to do, Ron and Harry went to (what used to be Florean Fortescue's and now was) Margaret Moulder's.

Hermione sat down in an empty chair next to the caged owl.

"Him," Harry corrected, "I haven't thought of a name yet."

"How about Bilius, after me?" Ron suggested.

"That's a thought," Harry said. Hermione smirked at Ron. "Yeah alright. Bilius, after you. But don't go trying to snog me again."

"What?" Ron asked after swallowing his bite of ice cream.

"Oh it was just a kiss on the cheek," Hermione said, "When you were drunk."

"I don't remember that. You've got to be joking."

When Harry said nothing, Hermione started laughing.

"Sorry," Ron said without looking at Harry.

"It's alright," Harry said, "Too much firewhiskey can make anyone do strange things."

"Mm," Ron said, shrugging.


	11. Rose-colored Fate

Later, after Hermione had bought everything she needed for school, the three of them went back to Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place together. Then, after Harry let Bilius out of his cage so he could hunt, the three of them went to the kitchen to cook supper together.

"How are you holding up, Harry?" Ron asked. He'd been made to sit far away from the stove so he would stop trying to steal bites of chili that Hermione was making. Harry was setting bowls and spoons out. Ron had been relegated to slicing bread, which he did inordinately slowly.

"I'm fine," Harry said immediately. He wasn't sure what Ron was exactly asking: holding up after the war being over or Ginny dumping him? "What is there to hold up?" Harry asked.

"Well, I just meant, you know, with everything. With Ginny, and you know, everything else."

"Right, I'm fine," Harry said again without looking up. He poured glasses of water for them each and then wandered over to Hermione's side to wait for his next order.

"How are _you_ holding up, Hermione?" Harry asked, meaning now that her parents had moved back to Australia. She looked up at him with a sharp look and shook her head slightly, eyes wide. "With your parents leaving, I mean."

"Oh," she said, and looked back down at the pot of chili. She stirred it, "Well, I've not talked much to them in years. And they deserve to be happy."

"Even if that means hurting you though?" Ron said, "That's bollocks."

"Well, I'll be fine," Hermione said. "They're leaving tomorrow. You could come with me to see them off."

"Okay," Harry and Ron said simultaneously. Harry glanced at Ron and realized that Hermione had probably only been talking to her boyfriend. Too late.

"If they're going back," Ron said as he sliced a fourth slice of bread, "how are you going to try using the Pensieve on them once it's finished?"

"Well, I'll visit them of course."

"All the way in Australia? During the school year?" Ron asked. Harry sat down at his place so he could stay out of their way. He knew them well enough to know when a row might start between them, which honestly seemed like it could always be at any moment.

"Yes. I owe it to them."

"You don't owe them anything. You saved their lives."

"—by taking their lives away from them, moving them half way around the world and making them forget their favorite thing about themselves. That's what my mum said. She was quite angry when I first explained everything. I don't think my dad even entirely still believes me. Ron, I need to do this."

"But…" Ron glanced at Harry, and then in an entirely different tone he said, "Fine. I'll help you. Any time you go, I'll come with you if you want me to, alright? Just say the word."

"Thank you, Ronald," Hermione said. She strode over to him and kissed his cheek. When she stepped back again, Harry wished he hadn't noticed that Ron was blushing.

Hermione turned the stove off and magically levitated the pot of chili to the hot pad on the table.

After dinner, Hermione Apparated to her parents' house to pack her things that were there. It'd been decided between them during dinner that she'd move in with Harry and Ron until she started school. It only made sense. After all, she really had no other family than them.

Harry had started banishing rubbish in Sirius's room when the door banged open and Ron rushed in. He looked out of breath. Disregarding his sense of de ja vu at seeing Ron in this doorway, Harry drew his wand and hurried forward.

"What's wrong," Harry asked, and pointed his wand down the hall, checking for trouble.

"Nothing," Ron said quickly, "I was just in the loo."

"You don't have to tell me about it," Harry said just as quickly and then turned back into the bedroom. Ron ignored him.

"I found this in there," Ron said. "It was just sitting on the bathroom sink. We hadn't really cleaned very thoroughly in there after the party. Someone must have left it there."

"Oh," Harry said, looking up. Ron had Neville and Luna's Wizard's Weed, which was now all rolled into neat little joints.

"Let's do some," Ron said, swinging the baggie of little blunts like a pendulum.

"I don't know..."

"Hermione never needs to know," Ron offered, "or Ginny or anyone for that matter."

"Have you been drinking at all?" Harry asked, looking back down to the floor. Harry had been curious to see if any of his other fates were similar to the one he'd seen. It was dumb, he knew, but that didn't keep him from the curiosity.

"No," Ron said, "I promise I'll never try to kiss you again."

"Thanks for that, but that's Wizard's Weed. If you've been drinking, it can make you act out the Fate you see. Or so I've heard..."

"Oh, well, no I haven't been drinking. Want to, then?"

"Yeah, alright."

"Wicked," Ron said. He walked to the bed and sat down as Harry pulled up an overturned chair and sat across from him. They lit the joint, and Harry surprised himself by not coughing. Ron coughed.

When Harry's vision came back to him through black stars, he found himself sitting at a desk. He was at Hogwarts sitting at a teacher's desk at the front of a classroom. The Defense Against the Dark Arts room.

Students starting filing in. Glancing over his shoulder at the window, Harry saw that it was snowing.

When all the students were seated and the bell rang, Harry stood. Most of the students-especially the girls-were smiling at him and were utterly attentive. A couple of Slytherin boys in the back weren't paying attention but they weren't doing anything to disturb the class either, so Harry did what he knew he always did: he ignored them.

"So today we're talking about Fiendfyre," Harry said. He flicked his wand at the chalkboard and an outline appeared there of talking points.

"Can anyone tell me—"

A girl with red curly hair raised her hand.

"Yes, Rose?" Harry asked.

"Fiendfyre," Rose began, sounding exactly like her mother, "is one of the few things that can destroy horcruxes. It's deadly lethal and destructive. It spreads rapidly and it requires advanced magic to control."

"Ten points to Gryffindor," Harry said, nodding.

Harry blacked out again and came back to reality.

"Wow," Ron said before Harry fully regained his eyesight.

"What'd you see?" Harry asked.

"I was an Auror. Working with you. We were the top two in the Ministry and you were the head of the department." But then Ron looked confused. "But I've already decided that I'm going to go work with George."

"There are twelve different possible Fates you can see," Harry explained, "Just because you saw that doesn't mean that it'll happen."

"Oh, well." Ron shrugged. "What did you see?"

"I was the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts," Harry said, glad that he didn't have to lie. "And your daughter was in my class. Her name was Rose and she sounded just like Hermione when she talked."

"Really?" Ron leaned forward on his seat. "So Hermione and I get married and have a daughter named Rose?"

"Well," Harry said, "in that version of reality, yes. But I have no intention of becoming a professor..."

"Right," Ron said, nodding. "You know, I bet we could get Hermione to try this. There are... three more here. And we could always re-light this one, right?"

"I suppose. I'm not really sure if you would see the same Fate or a different one with the same cigarette."

"Kind of a let-down that you don't really get high," Ron said, "Not that I _wanted_ to get high..."

"Do you think there are any other magical drugs?" Harry wondered aloud.

"You're joking right?" Ron laughed. "You didn't notice everyone getting high under the stands at the Quidditch pitch at school? Or in the bathrooms?"

"Oh I always wondered what that smell was," Harry said. "No, I was always a bit preoccupied in school, in case you forget."

"Well, Seamus offered me normal muggle spliff once but I didn't do it. I knew Hermione would have had my skin. I remember when Mum found out about Charlie's stash when he was in seventh year. Probably why he lives so far away now."

"Maybe," Harry said.

"Do you think these are Seamus's blunts? You think he's looking for them?" Ron asked as he followed Harry downstairs toward their bedrooms.

"No, I doubt it," Harry said, not meeting Ron's eyes.

"Yeah, you'd have to be pretty forgetful to leave these behind."

"Or maybe whoever left them wanted us to find them."

"You think so?" Ron was turning the little burnt-out blunt in his hand like a baton. "Come on then," he said finally. Harry hadn't realized that he'd been staring at the turning cigarette. "Let's light it and find out if we'll see a different Fate er what's-it-called."

Harry didn't even pretend to protest. He simply drew his wand from his pocket and, whispering the incantation for fire (not fiendfyre), he lit the joint once more as Ron inhaled, dragging from the blunt. Harry soon took it and did the same.


	12. Jars of Blue Flames

Harry's vision returned. He was lying in a large, canopied bed. A gold wedding band hung loosely on his finger. Sitting up, he saw that the room was huge. A fire blazed in the fireplace. The floor was an intricate design of flagstone. The door was heavy and engraved.

He was nervous. It was his wedding night.

The door creaked open slightly.

"Promise you won't laugh," she said, still hidden behind the door.

"I've never. I promise." He tucked his legs up so his forearms rested on his knees. He hoped he looked more relaxed than he was.

"Okay," she said. The door swung open the rest of the way. Hermione stood before him, her hair still in its neat twist on her head. He'd wished she'd worn her hair loose like she'd always done. But he supposed she looked nice, if not normal.

She wore a white negligée. It was mostly lace. Harry felt his mouth fall open.

Glancing back up at her face, he saw that she was blushing furiously.

"Come here," he said quietly. They'd had their wedding in a castle in Scotland, not far from Hogwarts. Ginny and Neville (her boyfriend) had come as had Ron and Luna and their twin sons. It was nice to see everyone, but this moment was what Harry had been most looking forward to. After all, this would be their first night together.

Hermione hurried over to the bed and jumped up next to Harry. He smiled at her.

"You are lovely," he said, "But will you do me a favor?"

"What?" she asked quickly.

"Will you let your hair down?"

"Only if you take off your glasses."

"Then how will I see you?"

And Harry came back to reality. He was conscious before he could see for a second or two, which was a little disorienting. But when he came-to, Ron was staring at him.

"What?" Harry asked. He felt guilty. There was no way he'd be sharing this Fate with Ron.

"I was married to Luna," Ron said. He was pale. "And we were happy. It was bizarre. You were married to Hermione. We went to your wedding with our twin sons. Named Lysander and Lorcan. I feel like someone had played a prank on me."

"Aw, come on, Luna's not so bad," Harry said.

"And you and Hermione…" Ron said. He finally met Harry's eyes.

"Yeah," Harry said, looking down, "Maybe it was a joke. Maybe if you smoke the same blunt more than once then it starts to go a bit funny?"

"Yeah," Ron said, swallowing and nodding, "Yeah that's probably it."

The door opened downstairs and there was a clunking sound, like a box falling. This was followed shortly by the portrait of Sirius' mother shouting something about, "Mudblood scum" and "besmirching the house of her fathers." Ron and Harry hurried downstairs and together shut her up.

Hermione was back, toting Ron's magically enlarged box. It was on its side on the floor and an inordinate amount of books had toppled out of it.

Ron and Harry both wordlessly helped her shove the books back in the box.

"Oh, it's okay, really, I can get it," Hermione said, shaking her head. Tears were running down her face. Ron slid an arm around her.

"You alright?" he asked her. Harry felt himself clenching his jaw and forced himself to relax it. The Fates had gotten him confused, like alcohol, he realized. He wasn't in love with Hermione. Not that way. How could he be annoyed with Ron? They were the ones who were in love.

"Yes, just a bit upset. Saying goodbye to my parents again. I just feel so terrible. It's my fault…"

"You did everything you could," Ron said, rubbing her back. "I'll carry this upstairs, for you, shall I?" Ron picked up the box up now that it had all of its books back inside.

"Thanks," she said. They smiled at each other. Then, Ron went upstairs. Hermione started to follow, but Harry grabbed her arm. They both glanced up at Ron, who didn't notice that they weren't following.

"What?" she asked in a whisper.

"I need to talk to you."

"Let it go, Harry."

"Ron found left over stuff in the bathroom. We lit it up together. He saw a Fate. A different one with you and me getting married."

"Oh… What did he say?"

"His face was all white."

"Oi! What are you two doing down there? Come up, then!" Ron called from the landing at the top of the flight of stairs. Without another word, Hermione turned away and hurried up the steps.

Later, after the three of them went to bed, Harry couldn't sleep. He wondered if Ron or Hermione were having the same trouble. He doubted it.

Out of boredom, Harry picked up his wand from the bedside table and started flicking his wand, giving himself a miniature fireworks display over his head where he lay. He didn't notice when the door opened, but he heard it click shut.

He sat up and pointed his wand. Gold sparks accidentally poured from his wand when he'd startled, momentarily illuminating the bedroom in gold. Hermione's brown hair glowed for that second before he stopped himself.

"Lumos," he whispered. She was levitating a jar of blue flames before her.

"You wanted to talk. I can't sleep," she explained. As she walked forward, the jar came with her. Then, she doubled and tripled the jars until there were about a dozen jars of blue flames surrounding them.

" _Nox_. What if Ron comes in?" Harry asked.

"What if he does? We're just talking," Hermione said, shaking her head. "Anyway, I was just doing a bit of reading. The twelve Fates can change with even minor life events. They're not set in stone. So whatever you're seeing are only Fates for what's currently happening. But say one person involved goes down one path of the twelve… then your twelve Fates will all change in some way."

"So what does that mean? Do you actually believe this stuff now?"

"Well, no I'm just saying… maybe if you got back together with Ginny, then you'd stop seeing visions of me."

"Ginny ditched me. Not the other way around," Harry was reluctant to say it.

"She is just confused. It's hard to get what you thought you always wanted. It's anticlimactic."

"Did she tell you that?" Harry shifted uncomfortably under his sheets. It hurt his back to sit up like this but he didn't want to lie down with Hermione here.

"Well, not in those words…"

"So she was disappointed with me."

"No. Not disappointed. I'm saying it wrong. You'll have to talk to her. She said she tried to talk to you at the party, but you wouldn't see her."

"I really don't care to hear her explain why she can't be with me. It's over." Harry looked down at Hermione's hand where it rested on his bed spread. If he just leaned forward now, touched her hand now, what would she do? Did he even want to touch her hand? Or was it only the Fates that put it in his head?

Harry was nothing if not brave. He reached forward and grabbed her hand.

"Harry," Hermione said. It was half-warning and half-question. She looked down at his hand covering hers. Then, to his surprise, she turned her hand over and held his. It felt friendly to Harry. It didn't feel the way that it did when Ginny held his hand. But he'd kissed Ginny before. Maybe that was the difference?

"Before I came up here, I cast a Sleeping Charm on Ron. He won't wake up until the morning," Hermione said without looking at Harry. What was she trying to tell him? Why do such a thing?

"Oh, okay."

"I love Ron," Hermione said, looking up at Harry, "but the thing is, I love you too. I just never thought you would ever felt that way about me, so I never considered it."

"Yeah, I feel the same way. Exactly."

"I think we owe it to ourselves just to see. Don't you?"

"I don't think I owe myself anything."

"…Ron would never need to know."

"Do you think you could keep it from him though?"

"I would take it to my grave if I thought he'd be happier for it." Harry decided that she had a point. He nodded.

"Okay, then," she said. "And anyway, you should know that Ron and I have never defined our relationship outwardly. It's been a bit…"

"You don't have to tell me," Harry said.

"Right," she agreed, huffing a deep breath out. "Okay then," she said again. Harry stared at her for a second before he realized that she wanted him to kiss her.

"It's a bit difficult to move since you're sitting on my sheets," Harry explained.

"Oh, see, it's already awkward. This was a terrible idea. I'll just go," Hermione said, shaking her head and hopping up from the bed.

Harry grabbed her wrist and pulled her down. Harry's left hip hit her right one, adding to the awkwardness. But suddenly, the found themselves face to face.

"It's not awkward," Harry said. He looked into her eyes and realized in all these years, he'd never been this close to her. At least, he didn't recall being this close if he had been. Even though she glowed blue from the jarred flames surrounding them, he could still see the specks of brown in her eyes. They had a pretty shape. He'd never noticed.

She shut her eyes and he did too.

Still holding onto her wrist, he kissed her. At first it was like a stage kiss, neither of them actually feeling anything at all. Just touching their lips together.

But then, Harry noticed how soft her lips were. Just as he thought this, she parted them and Harry let himself deepen the kiss. He wanted to.

He wanted her. Hermione.

And that's why he made himself stop kissing her. He realized he had wanted to hate kissing her. It would have made everything so much easier.

"Oh my God," Hermione whispered. They were still nose-to-nose.

"Mm," Harry agreed.

"Oh," she said. Harry thought she have started crying but he didn't get to see for sure. She laid a hand on either side of his face and kissed him again, pushing him onto his back. He had no will to stop her.

"You should really… we really shouldn't…," she said, though she was on top of him now.

"Yeah, I know."

"One word from you and I'll go."

"Ron. Ron is one word," Harry said, completely annoyed with himself.

"Yes," Hermione said, pushing herself up and off of the bed, "Oh, Harry. I'm so sorry."

"Hermione," he said, pushing himself up to a sitting position again. "It's not your fault."

Her jars of blue flames followed her. One accidentally knocked into Harry's head as it passed him. He rubbed the back of his head without thinking about it.

"Oh, gosh, sorry! I didn't mean to," Hermione said, turning and noticing this. She waved her wand and all of the jars fused into one again. "This was a mistake. A huge mistake. Please, let's just forget this happened, okay?"

"If that's what you want," Harry said without looking at her. He heard the door open and shut. He was left in total darkness once more.


	13. Fortune's Fool

In the morning, Hermione didn't come downstairs for breakfast. Ron checked on her and Harry told him that she was still sleeping. So, the boys both left for their new jobs without saying good-bye to her. Harry was honestly relieved not to have to see her. He didn't know what to make of what had happened last night.

Still, as he walked to the lift in the Ministry, he replayed it in his mind. The jars of blue flames had made the memory dream-like. Had that really happened? How could he have seen Hermione nearly every day (except for the summers) for the last seven years and not have realized he felt like this toward her?

Well, there was the small fact that he'd always taken her for granted. It was hard to admit to himself but it didn't make it any less true. At Hogwarts, and even searching for Horcruxes last year, he never imagined that a day would go by where he wouldn't see Hermione first thing in the morning and last thing before bed. Ron was different. Their time in the woods together proved that.

Yes, Harry's best friend was Ron. The bond he had with Hermione was more than a best friend.

He'd definitely never lusted after Hermione. Never even had a sex dream about her. And now this. That kiss had been the most amazing thing he'd ever felt. If every kiss with Hermione were to feel the way it did last night, then breaking up with Ginny was for the best. Well, except for Ron.

Also, Harry doubted that it'd ever feel like it was 'for the best' when he thought about not being with Ginny…

It hurt his chest a little to know he'd lost his virginity to Ginny to only have her ditch him soon after. Maybe he wasn't any good at sex? He had thought he was falling in love with Ginny… He didn't know what to think about it. He briefly wondered if he shouldn't take Hermione's advice and talk to Ginny and let her explain.

The lift announced, in her cool disembodied voice, that he'd arrived at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement's level. While he had ruminated during his ride, he hadn't noticed that he was the only person riding up.

Suddenly he was nervous. He automatically checked his pocket for his wand. It was there and wonderfully whole just as expected.

Harry hadn't been sure what to wear on his "first" day. He was second-guessing his muggle attire. Sure, he'd worn it when he'd visited with Kingsley before. But now, things were official. He wasn't just Harry Potter anymore, the Boy Who Lived and Defeated Voldemort, he was a part of the Ministry now. However, he hadn't thought to buy normal robes while he was in Diagon Alley and he'd left all his school robes behind at the Dursley's last year. So Muggle attire would have to do.

What would he do on his first day as a Novice Auror? Perhaps paperwork? Or maybe they'd just throw him right into the thick of things and have him go out and chase law-breakers?

The Aurors all had their own desks in a huge, open room. Squat windows lined the far wall. They looked like they needed to be cleaned.

"Harry, welcome," Kingsley Shacklebolt greeted him, with long purple robes billowing behind him as he strode forward.

"Hello, Kingsley," Harry said. They shook hands.

"So are you ready?" Kingsley clapped Harry on the shoulder and started leading him through the Department to the windows. Harry wondered for a minute if they'd stop or just walk straight through them.

"Ready for what?" Harry asked.

"The exam," Kingsley said. Harry glanced at Kingsley who was now looking back at him.

"Er, alright," Harry said. Inside, he was panicking. He'd had no idea that there would be an exam. Why hadn't anyone told him? Maybe he should have gone back for seventh year after all. How could he possibly know enough without having finished school?

Once they reached the wall of windows, Kingsley led him straight into the wall. They passed through it just like the passage to Platform 9¾ at King's Cross Station.

On the other side of the wall, they seemed to be inside of a maze of tall hedgerows. Harry was immediately taken back to the Triwizard Tournament's Third Task in his mind. He was trying not to hyperventilate.

"Good luck," Kingsley said, tapping him on the shoulder.

"Th-thanks," Harry said, swallowing, "Wait! What do I do?"

Kingsley looked back over his shoulder at Harry. "You do what you've always done, Harry. You'll be just fine." Then, Kingsley disappeared back through the wall of windows behind the hedgerow. Harry watched him leave before turning back around to face the tall rows of bushes.

* * *

When Ron opened the door to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, the lights were off. Hadn't George arrived yet? It was nearly nine o'clock.

"Hello? George?" Ron called into the shop. There was a loud crack and George appeared before him. He was still wearing pajamas.

"Oh, you showed up. I'm glad," George said, half-smiling at his little brother. "I've only just gotten up. If you could turn on the lights and get the register running, I'll be along in a bit. Just need a bit of a morning cap…"

"A morning cap?" Ron repeated, but George Disapparated away.

"But I don't know how to do anything yet!" Ron called into the empty shop. A girl strode in behind Ron then in crimson red robes, flipped the sign to "Open" and then looked up at Ron. She was petite and blonde.

"Oh, hi!" she said brightly, "You must be Ron. I'm Verity."

"Right, hi," Ron said, shaking her hand. "I think we've met before."

"Oh yeah, but I didn't think you'd remember me," she said, smiling politely. "Has George come along yet?"

"Er, he said he'd be a little while. And that you should get the register running and turn on the lights."

"Oh, okay," she said. Her thin eyebrows furrowed together. Ron thought it was cute; she looked sort of like a pixie, but life-sized. He found himself smiling as he followed her to the cash register. She tapped it with her wand and said, " _Rationem putet."_ Ron mouthed the charm along with her. The cash register made a loud, bell-like "ching" noise, the drawer slid open and shut once more and then made a sort of belching noise.

Then, she waved her wand at the lights and they flickered on. Magical toys seemed to wake up and buzz to life. Then, with a small sound of a tinkling bell, someone came in through the door and started perusing the shelves.

"Good job," Ron said, patting Verity's arm. She smiled at him.

"Want me to show you around? It won't take long."

"Yeah," Ron said, relieved, "That would be great."

* * *

When Ron had come in to check on her, Hermione had only been pretending to be sleeping. She listened for them to leave and then sat on the edge of the bed in her pajamas with her hands folded.

There had to be a logical explanation for the Fates Harry had been seeing. It must have something to do with not wanting to talk to Ginny. Hermione just wasn't sure how, exactly.

She just wasn't sure…

She touched her lips and in her mind she was living the memory of the night before. The touch of Harry _that_ way. It was so foreign and yet it had felt good.

Was that enough to hurt the little bit of family that she felt like she had left (the Weasleys)?

Of course it wasn't. She was ashamed of herself for even thinking it.

Hermione stood and changed quickly into muggle clothing. After a quick cup of tea along with a toasted cheese in the kitchen, she Apparated to Diagon Alley. She had an appointment with Ollivander to learn how to make a Pensieve.

But also, she wanted answers and she couldn't go to the Hogwarts library for them yet. She didn't have any real divination books, only the one left over from third year and that one had a paltry explanation of fates and visions at that. She was after something more substantial. After all, Hermione Granger wasn't used to not knowing the answers. Even if it was a load of rubbish, she wanted to know what the rubbish said.

As Ollivander wasn't expecting her for an hour yet, she ducked into a shop which smelled so strongly of incense that she had to cover her nose with her elbow for a few minutes. She was sure she'd have a headache later…

"Can I help you?" came a disembodied voice. It seemed to be coming from over Hermione's head.

"I'd like to know more—"

"About the Fates…" the old woman finished Hermione's sentence for her in an airy tone. She sounded like an old version of Luna. Hermione stifled her laughter.

Really anyone who was half-decent at Legilimency could have done that. You didn't have to be able to see the future to finish a sentence.

"Let me read your cards, dear," the woman said, leading Hermione over to a little round table with a table cloth of royal blue crushed velvet.

"If you must," Hermione said, shrugging. The woman was already shuffling her cards and was seated at the table. Hermione sat down and watched.

The woman laid out her cards in a sort of "H" pattern. Hermione crossed her arms. She was really just there for a book. If this woman wanted to tell the future, she really need only ask what Hermione wanted, so Hermione thought.

"It says here you've had trials in your past. You've overcome great odds. Your present is tenuous. There are many roads you could choose."

"Right. I was just looking for a book," Hermione began. This sounded so generic, she was eager to leave this woman with a book in hand. The woman held a wrinkly hand up in Hermione's face, shushing her.

"The two suns war silently. Very interesting."

"What sort of cards are these? Suns? I thought there were specific guidelines to card reading?" Hermione said. She crossed her legs.

"Your heart is confused. You're afraid," the old woman said, looking up at Hermione. "You desire the counsel of friends but find no counsel. All your trusted ones are involved in the war."

"The war's over," Hermione said flatly.

"If you follow your heart, you may find your heart broken. If you follow your head, you your cradle will fall."

"So what should I do?" Hermione asked quietly.

"The cards say your fate isn't up to you, it's up to another..."

Hermione cleared her throat and clenched her teeth together for a moment. "Does it say, by chance, which man is which?"

"One is a dark savior. The other is a red knight."

"And the red knight is… the one where I follow my heart?"

"No the one if you follow your heart is the dark savior. You will suffer the fall with the red knight."

"No that can't possibly be right… the fall?" Hermione said, shaking her head and standing.

"The cradle shall fall."

"Anyway, I came to find a book…"

"No, you came to seek guidance. You don't know whether to believe the visions of the Fates your lovers have."

"Excuse me! I _do not_ have lovers! I don't even have one lover!"

"That's not what the cards say," the woman said, shaking her head. Her claw-like hands scrabbled out from beneath her robe and grabbed Hermione's palm. She pulled Hermione's hand close to her face, gazing at it for a minute.

"You will marry once and have two children. The boy will resemble you, the girl will resemble the father. Your lover will leave you one day to find relief in another's arms."

"Well, then what can I do to stop it?" Hermione asked. She dropped her act. She felt tears threaten to spill from her eyes.

"If you cannot pick, I say you leave them both behind. The trouble with two equal lovers is that one cannot best the other. You should forget them both and start anew. Things cannot be as they were for you. You are ready to start a new life."

"But I can't," Hermione said, shaking her head, "They're all that I have. Ron… and, and Harry… they're—"

"Oh, goodness me!" the old woman said, and covered her gaping mouth with her rheumatic hand. "You're that Hermione Granger, aren't you? You're talking about Harry Potter! Harry Potter is your lover?!" The mystery was gone from the woman's voice and she cackled.

"Oh, please don't say anything to anyone. You know my fate. It's bad enough as it is. Please."

"Your secret's safe with me, dear. If you ever want someone to talk to again, you know where I'll be. I do stand by what I said. You can't make one happy without making the other miserable. Best leave them be until they move on from you. Here let me look a bit more." She gazed down at Hermione's outstretched hand. It was silent for about ten seconds before the woman spoke again. "The one that finds comfort in the arms of another, that one will not let you go even after all. He will be the one you marry. His love for you is greater than for himself. Just… be open to try new things."

"Alright," Hermione said. She pulled a galleon from her pocket. "For your trouble." Then, Hermione left. She'd completely forgotten about her search for a book.


	14. Speak of the Devil

The first thing Harry did was take his wand from his pocket. He didn't know what he was doing in this maze or where he was supposed to go. If he just stayed here for long enough, would Kingsley eventually come and take him back out of here? What would happen if he simply tried turning around and walking back through the wall?

It was all shrubs behind him. No windows, of course. But that's the way that Kingsley had gone.

Surely he would fail this test if he simply gave up, though, right?

It was dark here in the maze as though it were night. Harry knew it wasn't. _Cedric Diggory fell back and Harry felt the void of the soul that had once been there. A vacuum. The reality of death hit Harry then as it never had before. Cedric had been alive. Now he simply was not._

Harry gasped for breath as though he'd been under water. Had he just had a flashback? Was he developing PTSD right here in this Auror test?

"Lumos," Harry muttered. His wand lit to life. And before him, he saw Cedric Diggory, in his black and yellow uniform—the same he'd worn the day he had died—Cedric strode forward.

"You killed me and then stole my girlfriend," Cedric said, sliding his wand from his pocket.

"What?" Harry said. He was in utter disbelief. A short laugh escaped his lips. This couldn't possibly be real. It was just a mind game.

"You heard me! You're _laughing!_ I'm _dead_ because of you, Harry!" Cedric yelled. Then, wordlessly, he cast a glowing golden spell at Harry. Automatically, Harry cast a _Protego_ charm around himself. Cedric glared at him through the Protego and then Disapparated. For a millisecond, Harry thought he'd won this particular challenge, but Cedric Apparated to just behind him.

"Boo," Cedric whispered in Harry's ear.

Harry spun and disarmed Cedric without even saying ' _Expelliarmus'._ Cedric seemed to sift into sand and he disappeared.

Harry took deep breaths trying to calm himself. Cedric, the night that he'd seen his parents, Voldemort… the night came crashing back to him. He'd locked it away in a box in his head until now, never to be opened again. Now, it was open and bleeding from his ears.

Harry reached up and touched his earlobe—there wasn't actually any blood.

He took a few more steps forward. Was this maze going to dredge up every horrible thing that had ever happened to him?

* * *

After Ron had helped a couple of customers and magically restocked the shelves (with Verity's help), George Apparated into the shop. It was nearly noon.

"Nice of you to drop in," Ron said quietly to him after his customer left, bags in hand. The shop seemed to be cleaning out since it was nearing lunch. Verity was helping the only other customer.

"I had a late night," George said, shrugging. "I had an Angelina in my bed that needed breakfasted. What was a gent to do?"

"Oh bullocks, George, search me," Ron said flatly.

"You know what it's like I'm sure," George said, winking at Ron without smiling, "I'm quite sure a certain bushy-haired bookworm, who you happen to live with, needs a breakfast now and then, too…"

"I suppose," Ron said, feeling his face flush. He could count on his fingers the number of times he'd even _kissed_ Hermione, let alone anything else. He was starting to wonder if Hermione even liked him or if it had only been the heat of the battle.

"Ah, speak of the bushy-haired breakfaster," George said. Ron hadn't noticed the bell on the door tinkle. Hermione stood near the doorway, glancing around the large shop. She looked worried. Or maybe flustered…

* * *

Hermione wasn't about to take any of this seriously. She'd gone straight to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes to speak to Ron. It hadn't been a long walk.

And there he was, standing next to George behind the counter. He was already looking at her. Pushing her hair back she belatedly fixed a smile on her face and waved to the boys. They waved back as she walked up to the counter.

"Ron, could I have a word?" she asked quietly. She glanced at George. He looked mildly amused, though there were black crescents under his eyes. He needed to sleep more.

"He's on the clock, Hermione. It better be because you're looking for some Puking Pastilles or the like," George warned. Hermione shot him a look and he obligingly quelled under it. Ron ignored both of them and came around the counter.

"What is it?" he asked, looking down at her. He smelled good. Like soap and candy.

"I think we should… I think we need to talk about some things," she said.

"Okay."

Hermione had always hated when he made this face—the look he had when he was worried was almost the same as if he was about to vomit. "Maybe we could have lunch and talk after I meet with Ollivander?" Hermione said. She could feel George's gaze on them and wanted to speak privately.

"Alright."

"Meet me in about an hour at the Leaky Cauldron."

* * *

The next person to appear to Harry was Sirius.

"Sirius," Harry whispered. He pushed thoughts of the Resurrection Stone away. Here was Sirius before him. He'd never gotten the chance to say goodbye. Harry absently put his wand away into his pocket.

No burial. No memorial.

"Harry," Sirius said quietly, "How could you have done it? How could you have fallen for dumb trickery? I came after you…" Sirius paced forward, closing the gap between them. He whispered, "I fought for you and here I am, stuck just beyond a magical piece of cloth and you get to go on living. You should be _ashamed_ of yourself."

Harry immediately thought of the Veil. It was here in the Ministry. Just down in the Department of Mysteries. He could just go down now. He could get him back.

"I'll save you, I'll get you out," Harry said immediately. He didn't notice the tears that snaked down his face.

"It's too late," Sirius said. He took a step back and raised his wand. " _Avada—_ "

In the split second wherein Harry knew that Sirius was going to kill him and he needed to act, Harry stood still. If Sirius wanted to kill him, it was only right. Fitting.

And the maze dissolved away. Harry blinked tears from his eyes. He was in the middle of a large gymnasium, like the kind that had been in his primary school.

Turning around, Harry watched as Kingsley paced forward from the wall of squat windows. There were a few others there behind him. They must have been other Aurors.

"Ah, Harry, you'd done so well with the first obstacle," Kinglsey said as he came nearer. He was smiling but he sounded disappointed.

"Did I fail?" Harry asked.

"Only for today. You'll do better tomorrow."

Harry didn't want to ever do this again.

"Go ahead home for today," Kingsley said, patting Harry's shoulder. "Get some rest. You know what you're in for now." Harry only nodded. Kingsley led Harry back through to the room full of desks. Then, Harry went back to Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place.

* * *

Hermione's meeting with Ollivander was short. He gave her a book to read and said she was to come back once she'd finished it.

"The stone shouldn't come in until next week at the earliest, so if you finish it before then… Oh, before you go," said Ollivander as Hermione gazed down at the dusty, frayed spine. _The Craft of Pensieve._ There was no author's name.

"Yes, sir?" She reluctantly looked up from her book.

"When you get to the part of memories, I need you to think long about the good memory that you want to use. The more important it is to you, the harder it will be to recover from."

"Sorry?" she asked, shaking her head.

"Physically, I mean…," he said, raising his chin a little, as though seeming to assess her. "Well." He looked down at the book again. "See you next week same time, Miss Granger. I will carve the stone, you will do the hard part. It should only take a moment."

"Thank you, sir."

Hermione went straight to the Leaky Cauldron and sat and read for the remainder of the hour while she waited for Ron. He was early.

When he saw that she hadn't gotten anything to eat or drink, he ordered butterbeers and sandwiches at the bar and then sat down across from her.

"Are you alright?" Ron asked.

"I'm fine," Hermione answered. But Tom was already coming to their table, levitating their lunches in front of him.

"It's just, you seemed a bit out of sorts when you came into the shop," Ron said once Tom had walked away.

"I, well…," Hermione said. She looked down at her sandwich but didn't touch it. She watched as Ron picked his up and took a bite. "Well, you know how you came to visit me at my parents' house the other day? Well, I agree."

"Agree about what?" Ron said with his mouth full.

"I think we should get married, Ron."


	15. Firewhiskey

"Married?" Ron said once he swallowed. "What? Now?"

"Yes," Hermione said. She didn't move.

"But, we've only kissed a couple of times. Don't you think—"

"Weren't you the one that was telling me that we know each other well enough? Isn't that what you said?" Hermione leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Well, yeah, I suppose." Ron stared at her for a few seconds. "Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"I mean, are you quite sure you want to get married? Now? I thought you were going back to Hogwarts?"

"I am. That doesn't mean we can't be engaged. I think it'd be quite proper to set a date in June after I graduate. Of course there will be N.E.W.T.s to think of, but how hard could planning a wedding be?"

"Right," Ron said. Hermione watched at his face went pale and then turned a light shade of green.

"Oh, Ron, have I frightened you? I don't mean to be so blunt."

"It just seems so much more real when you propose than when I do. That's all."

"Don't you want to marry me?"

"Of course I do." He chugged down the rest of his butterbeer. He could feel Hermione watching him. "I've got to be getting back. Fred—I mean George—right, I'll see you at home."

Ron stood and kissed Hermione's cheek. Then, he left. Hermione waited a few minutes. She was surprised that she wasn't more disappointed than she was by Ron's reaction. If she'd thought about it for five minutes, she would have realized that he'd react this way.

She took another sip of her butterbeer, picked up Olliavander's book from where she'd set it down on the table and then went out to the alleyway. From there, she Disapparated back to Grimmauld Place.

As she went inside, she heard a popping noise from the back of the house like a gunshot. She'd thought she would be alone and she shrieked upon hearing it.

"Hermione?" came Harry's voice from the stairway. Then came thudding footsteps and Harry appeared through the doorway to the stairs.

"Oh, Harry, what was that?" She laid a hand over her chest as she willed her heart to slow.

"Firewhiskey. Want some?" He held up the bottle.

"Oh." Since when did Harry drink alcohol in the middle of the day? "Sure I suppose. What's the occasion?" She walked toward him.

"Er, I failed my entrance exam."

"Oh no!" She followed him into the sitting room.

" _Accio_ firewhiskey glasses," Harry said, pointing his wand to the door to the basement kitchen. They sat down on a sofa.

"Does this mean you can't be an Auror now?" The firewhiskey glasses floated lazily up to Harry and Hermione. They each picked their glass out of the air.

"No," Harry said as he poured them each some alcohol by hand, "I have to try again tomorrow."

"Oh. That's alright then. Just study tonight. You'll be fine. I can help you if you'd like."

"It's not like that. It's more of a personality test."

"I see," Hermione said, though really she was confused. He downed his glass of firewhiskey. She took a sip of hers and tried not to make a sour face.

"They made me think I was back in the Triwizard Tournament kind of. In the maze. I saw… I let Sirius kill me. Or I was going to let him. That's why I failed."

"Oh, how terrible." Her hand touched his knee before she could stop himself. Their kiss from the night before was buzzing in the back of her head like a bee she wanted to swat.

"Yeah. Can't wait for tomorrow."

"It's probably not too late to come back to Hogwarts if you want." In an attempt at causualness, she dropped her hand from his knee. He glanced at her hand though as she did it. Did he notice? Of course he noticed.

"Nah. I can't quit. What would I do? Just go back to school for a year and then apply as a Novice Auror again? If I quit now I'd be giving it all up. This is what I want to do. I'm just going to have to learn to fight, even kill. Even if it's someone I love."

"What? Like the Crouches? I highly doubt that's what they're training you to do."

"Come and watch tomorrow. You'll see."

"Really? You want me to come? Is that even allowed?"

"I'm Harry Potter. I think I can pull a few strings."

"Harry!" But then she laughed. He looked too sad to yell at right now. She was itching to stand but made herself stay. They could still be friends. Nothing had to change just because of one awkward, confused (though nice… sweet…) kiss.

She downed the rest of her glass and then poured them each another.

"Did you have a bad day too?" he asked, watching her pour.

"You could say that. Well, it wasn't bad. Just strange."

"So no luck on finding the book you wanted?"

"How did you—oh my note." He nodded. "I had my fortune told."

"I thought you didn't believe in any of that?" Harry popped his second drink back.

"This lady was far more convincing than Trelawney ever was." Hermione downed her second drink and then coughed.

"That's not saying much—"

"She said," (cough) "That one lover would drive me crazy and the other would leave me heartbroken." (cough) "And I'd have two children. And my husband would cheat on me one day."

"I'd never cheat on you," Harry said immediately. It was silent while he poured himself another drink and then drank it.

"Harry…" she said finally. What did she even want to say?

And she said in a tiny voice, "I know you wouldn't." He finally looked up from the bottle of firewhiskey and over at her. She looked back.

Then, Harry took her hand in hers and pulled her toward himself. He looked down at her hand.

"I don't see anything here other than a bunch of lines. You'd think after years of Divination at Hogwarts that I'd be able to do a bit of palmistry. Oh wait, I do see it here. Yes, you'll have an amazing life as a gifted, genius witch and you'll have your choice of handsome men and you'll have children and be the head of whatever you decide to do and be incredible at everything."

"It doesn't say that."

"How do you know? Did you look?"

"You can't read your own palm."

"Sure you can. Just because you took a couple of weeks of Divination, it doesn't make you an expert."

"Right." She pulled his hand into hers. From what she'd read, she could interpret a little of what she saw there.

But she didn't want to say it: his hand clearly said he'd have three children. How could she have two but he have three?

Oh right, because she was going to marry Ron. She'd just proposed that very afternoon and had already forgotten.

"What is it? Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah." She looked at him. Then, without deciding to do so, she lifted her hand from his and took his glasses off of his face.

His eyes were so beautifully shaped, almost too large for his face and a lovely shade of emerald green. It was a shame they were always hidden behind glasses.

"I think you should get contacts. I like your eyes," she said. She'd meant to say it more matter-of-fact but it'd come out like a whisper.

"Thanks. I like your eyes too," he said, laughing quietly. Then, he lifted his hand to her face and cradled her cheek in his palm. And leaning forward, he kissed her.

Hermione responded immediately, wrapping her arms around him. Since when did firewhiskey taste so good?

"Mmhh." Harry's hand grazed over her hair, down her arm.

"I…" Hermione started. But Harry kissed her again. She didn't try to push him away. "Please Harry. We shouldn't do this." But even as she said it, she had a fistful of his messy hair. His hand was up her shirt. When did that happen?

"Hermione—" He kissed her neck. "Please just don't think. Please."

"I can't help it," she whispered. He laughed. His hand trailed down to the waist of her jeans and tickled her. "You're just drunk—"

"I need you," Harry said. They looked at each other with wide eyes and she let her grasp drop from his shoulders. Harry shoved his glasses back onto his face.

"You're confused. We're both just confused. Ron and I are in love. We're going to get married."

"Ron's not ready to get married. We're only eighteen."

"He and I got engaged this afternoon."

Harry didn't move for a few seconds.

"Harry, say something, please."

"You did this only because you're afraid. You're afraid of me. You know it."

"No. I'm in love with Ron."

"Right, of course you are."

Harry stood. He took a step away from Hermione as though he was going to leave the room. Then, he grabbed the firewhiskey bottle and gulped.

"Harry, Harry, stop."

He did. Then, he said, "So you love him, right. But you love me too. I know you do."

Then he went upstairs.

Who was that? It wasn't the Harry that Hermione knew, that's for sure.

Hermione waved her wand and made their drinking glasses disappear. Then, she tiptoed up to her room, pulled her shoes off and laid down on her front. Then, she continued reading Ollivander's book.

She read:

 _The witch or wizard then must select three distinct memories to feed to the stone. These memories must be of the witch or wizard's specific choosing such that the importance will be evident to the magic given to the stone._

 _The manner in which the witch or wizard feeds the memories to the stone are not the same manner in which one would select a memory for viewing within a Pensieve. Rather, the witch or wizard must lay down their wand upon the hewn stone, pointed perpendicularly away from the owner. The witch or wizard thus places hands upon the stone on either side of the wand. The memories must then seep through the skin and into the stone._

 _Total concentration, ideally with eyes closed, is ardently encouraged. If the memories are not wholly given to the stone, the witch or wizard risks permanently bonding their hands upon the stone._

 _One memory must be given which elicits a happy emotional state to the witch or wizard. If the happy memory is that of simple contentedness, the emotional depth one is able to experience within the stone will be stunted. Therefore the happy memory must be that of total elation or exuberance or as close to such a feeling as the witch or wizard has ever experienced. This will allow for complete emotional depth of a memory._

 _The second must be given which elicits a morose emotional state to the witch or wizard. This memory likewise must be of an extreme emotional depression and not simple disappointment nor simple pain._

 _The third must be a memory neither of happiness nor of sadness, but one of a pleasant dream. The more detailed and complete the dream recall, again the stronger the bond of magic will be created._


	16. Shadows Under the Door

Harry sat on the floor at the foot of Sirius' old bed. He'd left the lights off. The bottle of firewhiskey was like a companion, sitting next to him.

Light shown in the crack between the bottom of his door and the floor. Because the windows were so heavily draped, it was the only source of light. So when Hermione began pacing silently before the door, it was impossible for Harry to ignore. Shadows kept wandering by, stopping, and wandering by again.

A small voice in Harry's mind knew that he should push her away, let her keep pacing. Make her marry Ron having never really betrayed their best friend's fidelity. But a much louder voice in his head simply wanted her. It had never been there only a few weeks ago, or rather, it had wanted someone else then.

Suddenly the door burst open. The weak light of the hallway seemed bright in the dark room. Hermione stood there, squinting into the room.

"I'm here," Harry said. Hermione started forward and then, with her wand, she cast aside one of the heavy drapes so there was more light in the room. Then, she fell to her knees next to Harry.

"How much have you had?" she asked, looking down at the bottle by Harry.

"Just a bit," he slurred. He couldn't properly lift his head without the room turning slightly on an axis.

"Oh, Harry, this isn't you." Hermione was shaking her head.

"Uh, oh, Hermione disapproves. What? You don't like the bad boys?" He winked at her.

"You should really have some water." She conjured a glass before him.

"I'm not such a good boy, you know. I can be very, very bad. I mean, I know I used to have Voldemort in my head, and he's gone now. So you'd _think_ I'd be just perfect…"

Without Hogwarts, and with so many people gone—including Voldemort—being a good person suddenly wasn't so world-altering any more. It didn't matter to anyone now whether he fell off the face of the earth. At least, that's how he felt. He could never tell anyone this though.

"What are you on about?"

"You're going to dump that water on my head? You know, Hermione, I've only ever slept with Ginny, and she left me after we did it, so I think you might be disappointed if I ever take you to bed."

"Please don't talk about such things," Hermione said quietly. "Besides—"

"And then you'll go off to Ron, who's probably a great shag, and you'll hate yourself forever—"

"Ginny told me about your escapade in the shed, and what happened in your bedroom. Girls talk."

"Oh God, she did? What did she say?"

"I couldn't possibly… oh fine, she said it was amazing. It's why she left you. She said you were too… intense… it was too…"

"You're lying."

"I am not. Why would I lie to you? Now, drink this water before I really do dump it on your head."

"I've already got something to drink," he said and held up his bottle of firewhiskey, "Thanks though."

She stood and flicked her wand. The glass of water dumped on his head.

"Hermione!" Harry growled. He flicked his wand, and in his drunkenness was surprised by his effortless wordless magic. He conjured a bucket of water and in turn dumped it on her head.

"Harry!" she shrieked. She immediately dried herself. Then, she vanished the bottle of firewhiskey.

"Oi! That was my most special friend! He and I had a real connection!" Harry heaved himself wobbily to his feet.

"You can barely stand!" Hermione flicked her wand again. A chair conjured behind Harry and pushed behind his knees so he sat heavily down on it.

"Careful or I might have to dump another bucket of water on your—"

Another flick of Hermione's wand and Harry was tongue-tied. Harry wordlessly un-did her spell.

Hermione disarmed him with another silent flick of her wand. Then, she moved her wand in tight, quick circles. As she did, robes bound Harry to his chair.

"Hermione! Okay enough! Uncle! I give up! I will drink a glass of water already! Merlin!"

"Good," she said, smirking.

"Will you unbind me now?"

"Nope," she said.

"I should have figured you for a dominatrix…"

"A what?" she asked sharply. Harry laughed at her. "I'm not a dominatrix!" The ropes fell away.

Harry stood from his chair and stepped toward her. Her hair seemed to crackle a little when she was mad, as though the magic in her was barely contained.

Her chest heaved slightly from yelling. She noticed that his gaze had fallen and she crossed her arms over herself.

When their eyes met, her arms fell to her sides again.

"Harry…" she whispered. He stood and stepped over the ropes on the floor. He took a step toward her. The room wasn't turning oddly anymore, thankfully. He took another step toward her and then they were toe-to-toe.

Slowly, Harry reached up and ran his hand down her bushy hair. Magic shocked him.

"Ouch," he said, though he smiled when he was zapped.

"Sorry."

Gently, Harry leaned forward and touched his lips to hers. She wrapped her arms around him, pulling him to her. He did the same to her.

Maybe it was because of all the sunlight coming into the room, but these kisses different than when they'd been surrounding in jars of little blue flames. They were more guilt-ridden, even through his haze of alcohol that was setting into his head.

Harry pulled Hermione's shirt off and she pulled off his. Harry knew she'd seen him naked before, and he'd seen her in her underthings a handful of times. He'd liked what he'd seen then, but he'd never really thought about it until this moment.

"Why didn't I kiss you then?" Harry asked her breathlessly. He knew this didn't make sense but Hermione understood. "Why didn't I?"

"I don't know," she said quietly, shaking her head. She was undoing his belt. He undid the button to her jeans.

"Are you a virgin?" Harry asked her quickly. How could he not know this already? He thought she was but he couldn't be sure.

"No," she whispered. "Krum, back in fourth year." They stopped trying to take each other's clothes off.

"You were fourteen! Wait no, fifteen. Your birthday's in September."

"I know. Shut up. Why does it matter?"

"Right."

She laughed. He could tell she was nervous. He tried to smile at her. As they gazed at each other, she touched his face. He caught her hand and kissed her wrist. He watched as she shut her eyes.

He leaned forward and kissed her again. Then, he picked her up and she wrapped her legs around him. He carried her the few steps to the bed. As he laid her down, he suddenly remembered Christmas Eve with her. How she'd come with him to his parents' graves…

This girl had been through so much with him. How could it have taken him so long to realize what was right in front of his face?

"I know… I know…" she said quietly. She reached up and touched a few scars on his chest. Scars that were left over from the battle. Tears welled in her eyes. He leaned down and kissed her cheek.

As he kissed her, she wiggled out of her jeans and pants under him. Then, she leaned up a little and pulled his pants and jeans down as well. Harry pushed them off and let them fall to the floor next to the bed.

They were both naked. She shivered. He was suddenly struck with how badly he didn't want to ruin their friendship. Or to hurt… no, _kill,_ Ron. This would kill him.

She pulled his glasses off his face and let them fall to the ground. They both heard them crack when they fell. Neither cared, because Hermione was kissing Harry. He held her hands in his over her head on the pillow.

"Oh," she said. He stopped kissing her neck and looked up at her face. She was crying.

"Shh," he whispered. He moved so he laid down next to her. She turned and hugged him to herself. "It's okay. We don't have to," he whispered.

"I'm sorry… I'm a terrible, terrible person," she shook her head. They were nose to nose.

"No you aren't." He kissed her lips lightly.

And then, Mrs. Black's portrait was wailing loudly about blood-traitors. A Weasley was here.


	17. The Visitor

"Oh my God," Hermione yelled in a whisper. "It's Ron. Ron's come home early."

Hermione hopped up from bed and they both pulled their pants and jeans back on. Then, she magically _Accio_ -ed the rest of their clothes to them and they hurried to pull them on.

Someone silenced the portrait. The person was moving up the stairs.

"Hello?" called a young woman.

"It's Ginny," Harry recognized immediately.

"Oh," Hermione said, her eyebrows furrowing.

"I'm not going to tell her anything," Harry said shaking his head. He pulled his shirt over his head as Hermione magically repaired his glasses for him.

"Of course not. There's nothing to tell," she said, gently sliding Harry's glassed back onto his face.

"Right. Of course not." Harry hesitated and then kissed Hermione's cheek before hurrying from the room.

"Ginny?" Harry called. He ran his hands over his clothes. Yep, all there.

As he jogged down the steps, he had a sudden reality check. What had he just been doing with Hermione?

It wasn't right. It had to stop. How could they do this to Ron?

"Hello?" Ginny called again. Harry peered down over the stair railing and saw her. "Oh, Harry. Hi."

Harry hurried down the multiple flights of stairs. He stopped just before her. Self-conscious, he ran a hand through his thoroughly messy hair.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" she asked, taking a step forward.

"Er, yeah."

"I thought you would be at the ministry—Merlin, you wreak of alcohol. Were you celebrating?"

"Celebrating?" Harry was confused. "No… uh… Sorry, did, er, you want to talk or… I could get a cuppa…"

"No, actually I'm looking for Hermione. I just heard the news. Is she home?" Ginny stepped forward and peaked up at the staircase. She was within a foot of Harry when she did this. Her long red hair swayed down and tickled his cheek. Reflexively, he took a step back from her.

She seemed to notice and she turned and looked at him.

"Sorry," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Is she here?" she asked again. She was studying him the way Mrs. Weasley would. Like she was trying to read words on his face.

"Yeah, I think so," Harry said, gritting his teeth through the lie. He couldn't look at her anymore. He called up the stairs, "Hermione! Ginny wants to see you."

A few seconds passed and Hermione didn't come down the stairs.

"You know, I do want to talk to you too, if you're willing to talk to me, that is," Ginny said quietly.

"Right… how did you get here?" Harry asked, distracted. "You're too young to Apparate."

"Dean is waiting outside," Ginny said, raising an eyebrow.

"Dean?" Harry repeated blankly. Why did he care who had brought her here? "So are you back with him then?"

"No. He was just being nice. He'd come to the Three Broomsticks with Seamus. And Neville and Luna are there with Ron—"

"Right, you go along with Dean then," Harry said. He hadn't meant to sound so biting.

"Harry," Ginny whispered. Her cheeks turned crimson. He was glad. They both peered up the stairs when they heard a floorboard creak. Hermione was quietly coming down the stairs.

"Don't let me interrupt anything," Hermione said, stopping on the staircase. "I thought I'd heard my name."

"You did, hear your name I mean. Not interrupting," Harry said immediately, "Ginny came to see you."

"Right!" Ginny said, over-bright, "I wanted to celebrate with you."

"Celebrate?" Hermione asked.

Ginny pushed past Harry as she hurried up the stairs toward Hermione. His arm felt like it burned with electricity where Ginny had accidentally touched him.

"Of course. We're going to be sister-in-laws!" Ginny said. She reached Hermione and hugged her. Hermione belatedly hugged her back.

"Right," Hermione said. She looked down the steps at Harry and silently mouthed the word 'sorry'. Harry looked away.

He should be happy for her.

"Ron and George closed the shop early. George took him out to celebrate. They're in Hogsmeade and probably aren't going to be able to Apparate home. We should all three go and celebrate with them."

"No, no. I have so much reading to do... I really oughtn't."

"Oh come on, Hermione. Just this once. They want you there. Ron needs you. He seemed kind of nervous."

"You go along. Hermione and I will be there in a few minutes," Harry said behind her.

"Okay," Ginny said. She forced a smile on her face as she turned to look at him. Then, she walked down the stairs, passed Harry, and left.

Harry waited until he heard a crack—Dean and Ginny had Apparated away—before he spoke to Hermione.

"So, by the way, where's your ring?" he asked her, taking the last few steps up to face her.

"I haven't a ring yet."

"It's odd how quickly you forgot about your engagement."

Hermione ignored him. "I think we're both just confused about some things, you and I. That's all. I'm just relieved we haven't done something we would regret."

"What? You haven't done anything you regret? That means you don't regret lying naked in my bed and kissing me? If Ginny hadn't shown up-"

"Harry, I know." He stopped talking and looked up at her. "I care about you so much. I love you. But Ron… I can't… I love Ron. I always have."

"Right. I'm not asking you to break his heart," Harry said, shaking his head. Hermione flung her arms around him and hugged him.

"Harry! I'm so sorry for all of this!" He didn't let himself hug her back. She stopped hugging him after a second or two and they stood silently, both looking at the other but thinking about other things.

"Before we go… you know there's still a joint or two left somewhere," Harry said, "They're probably in Ron's room. We could just try one more. See what we see."

"I suppose. It doesn't take long."

"Come on," Harry said. He took her hand in his and led her upstairs.

Ron's room was unlocked. It smelled like him. His orange Chudley Cannons posters had been transplanted from his old bedroom to here.

"Maybe we should tell Ron what's happened," Hermione said, glancing around his room, "Everything that's happened. He might understand and forgive us."

"Yes, Ron is a very understanding guy. He'd totally understand when he is told that his worst fear has been realized and I'm trying to steal his girlfriend, no, his fiancée… We never told you what he saw when he killed the Horcrux in the locket, I just realized."

She looked over at him. "What did he see?"

"You mean what was your fiancé's worst fear?" Harry found the little baggie. It was on top of a dusty old dresser.

"Yes," she said, pressing her lips together.

"He saw you and me snogging. These versions of us that were… better-looking. And you were saying how he was nothing and I'm so… well you can probably guess."

"Oh. I see," Hermione said. They sat down on his bed, side by side. Hermione pulled out her wand as Harry took a blunt out. "He can never know."

"Yeah."

Hermione lit the joint as Harry inhaled. He passed it to her and within a couple of seconds, he saw black stars.


	18. Unexpected Fates

When Harry's vision returned, he was sitting on the floor of the second floor hallway in his house. He stood and paced to the end of the hall where a stained glass window gave a view of a quaint square. A church wasn't far away across the square, and off in the distance to the left stood a little cemetery.

When he heard the quiet click of an opening door, he spun hurried back down the short hallway. He faced his wife.

"It's positive," Ginny said, grinning. It had taken eight months to hear those words.

Harry pulled her into a hug.

"Pregnant," he whispered. "Are you sure?"

"Yep," she said, grinning as she leaned back to look up at his face. She giggled. "You can't tell anyone. Not even Ron and Hermione. Not until three months are up."

"Your mum will figure it out," Harry said, shaking his head. He kissed her nose.

"Yeah, she probably will." She rested her head on his chest. He pulled her tighter to himself.

"Mmm." He rested his cheek on the top of her head. "We're going to be parents."

"Yes, how boring."

"I don't think I know how to be a parent," Harry said. He'd never admitted it aloud before but he'd thought it a hundred times since they first started trying to have a baby.

"If you love this baby half as much as you love me and our family, you'll do just fine." She rubbed his back. He loved it when she did that.

"Well, you'll be parent enough for both of us if I'm horrible at it," Harry tried to joke.

"Are you trying to say that I'm like my mother? Because if you're telling me that-"

"You may be a bit like your mother, but I mean it as a compliment. You're sexier than your mum. Just a bit, anyway."

She smacked his back where she'd been rubbing it. "Oh, don't tell me that you've had fantasies about my mother. I'll puke on you even if I don't have morning sickness yet."

He dropped his hold on her.

Harry's vision returned.

"Huh," he said. He hadn't been expecting that. It was possible that he'd get back together with Ginny?

"What did you see?" Hermione asked him. She was sitting up ramrod straight.

"You tell me yours first," he said. He didn't want to tell her what he saw. Oddly, he was worried about offending her.

"I don't want to say," she said. "It was weird."

"It couldn't have been that bad. What? Did you like, watch your own funeral or something? Were you a lesbian?"

Hermione made a noise like a hissing cat. "You're turning into Ron, I swear."

Harry wondered if it had anything to do with the fact he was attracted to her now.

"I saw us, together," she said quietly after a moment had passed. She glanced at him and their eyes met. " _Together_ together."

"You and me?"

Hermione looked away. "You and me and someone else."

Harry had no idea what to say to that. "Oh. That's interesting."

"Well then? What did you see?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Woah, wait a tick. You can't say that and then not tell me who this 'someone else' is."

"You tell me what you saw and then maybe I'll think about telling you who it was."

Harry knew it must have been Ron. After Ron drunkenly tried to kiss him the other night, a thought had been itching the back of Harry's mind: was Ron really attracted to him or was it just the alcohol?

Hermione was looking at him expectantly.

"I was living in my parents' old house in Godric's Hollow. It was fixed up. I was-I was married to Ginny."

"I see. Well, that makes sense."

"Does it? I don't think it makes sense at all. I never made a decision to-"

"Like you mentioned before, it's not always your decision to make. She broke up with you. You never stopped loving her."

"I don't know if I ever _started_ loving her."

"You only watched her every spare moment on the Marauder's Map while on lookout in the woods." Hermione glanced at him again. He looked away from her.

"So you're saying that she must have decided that she wants to get back together with me?"

"Yes. Probably. She didn't tell me that, but it would make sense."

"Right."

"Well, we should really get going. People will start wondering what we're up to." Hermione hopped up from her seat on Ron's bed but Harry grabbed her wrist.

"You have something to tell me first. Or a certain someone to tell me, that is. Who were we with?"

Hermione was blushing. She shook her head.

"It was Ron, wasn't it?"

"Yes," she squeaked. Harry let her go. He listened as she hurried down the stairs.

Harry could only wonder: who of the three allowed that Fate to be a possibility? All three? Wouldn't all three of them have to be willing on some level for that to be a possibility?

Harry definitely did not feel like he was open to that possibility. Ever. Unless maybe he'd take an accidental love potion someday.

He stood and, stuffing the burnt-out joint back into its baggy, he dropped the bag back onto Ron's dresser.

He didn't ever want to do Wizard's Weed again. It messed with your head too much.

He went downstairs. She was waiting at the door for him.

"I'm surprised you're not going to change into a dress. Ginny was wearing a dress," Harry said. He was looking at the floor, not a Hermione.

"I _am_ wearing a dress," Hermione said. Harry glanced up from the floor.

"Oh, so you are. Sorry."

"It's okay. I just changed. Transfigured my clothes."

"Hm," Harry said looking up at her again. He hadn't known that she could do that. "Well, you look nice."

"Come on." She grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the house. As they jogged down the steps, she flicked her wand over her shoulder and the door shut and locked behind them.

Hermione was about to Apparate, Harry knew, but he grabbed her hand.

"Listen, Hermione. Before we go-"

"What?"

"I want you to know that…"

She only stared at him and patiently waited for him to finish his sentence. He glanced around them. They were alone.

"I want you to know that I love you more than anything. If it weren't for your cleverness and your, your caring about me, I would have died a thousand times over by now. I owe you everything."

"Harry, please don't-"

"If Ron had… if he'd never come back to us over the winter, I don't know, maybe things would be different. But I just can't keep doing this to him."

"I can't either, but-"

"And I want the best for you. I want you to be happy."

"But, Harry," Hermione whispered, "Don't you see? You saying things like that..." Hermione shook her head and then Disapparated. Harry let out a huff of breath that he'd been holding. Then, he Disapparated too.


	19. Never Have I Ever

Hermione and Harry Apparated to Hogsmeade. Automatically, Harry glanced up at the hillside beyond. Hogwarts glowed there warmly.

"Hermione," Harry said, tearing his gaze away from the castle, "Please, let's talk."

"Not now. Come on," Hermione said. She pulled him by his forearm toward the Three Broomsticks.

When she entered, there was a general outcry of happiness. Harry trailed in after her. The outcry of happiness sounded again when he appeared.

"'Mione!" Ron said, hurrying forward. He kissed her. A fair number of people wolf-whistled. As he watched them, Harry felt like someone had grabbed hold of his heart and squeezed it. He couldn't look away from them. Ron finally released Hermione.

He reached an arm out to Harry and tapped his shoulder a few times.

"All we'd have to do is have your parents come and you could have the wedding here and now," Harry said, glancing around at the crowd. He could feel Hermione's worried gaze on him. He couldn't look at her.

"Nah," Ron said shaking his head as though this had been a real option. He took Hermione's hand in his and led her over to a group of tables filled with their friends and acquaintances. Harry trailed after them.

Neville poured Hermione a butterbeer from a pitcher and passed it to her. Then, he poured one for Harry too. George pulled Hermione's arm so she'd come talk to him and Angelina Johnson.

Harry slid into a vacant seat. He was next to Luna.

"Hello, Harry," Luna said smiling over at him. Neville's arm was hooked around her but he was turned away in their curved booth. He was talking to Dean and Seamus. Ginny was across the room. She stood by Hermione but was talking to the Patils.

"Hi Luna. How are you?"

"Fine. You?" Harry took a gulp of his butterbeer.

"Quite well. Did you find Neville's gift?"

"So those were left intentionally. Ron found them, actually."

"Oh. Did he see any interesting visions?"

"He mentioned marrying you, actually. You had twins named Lorcan and Lysander."

"Oooooh. I like those names."

"I'm not surprised."

"I'd marry Ron. He's gotten a lot nicer since his brother died. Quieter though." Luna and Harry both looked over at Ron and Hermione. They were kissing again.

"I think he's been set on Hermione ever since he realized girls existed, actually."

"Mmm. But what about you? Did you ever tell Ron about that kiss?"

"What kiss?" Harry asked. He only wasn't sure at first what she was referring to. "Oh the one at the party? No."

"What other one could I mean, Harry?"

"I was just erm, right of course."

"So it didn't mean anything? That's probably good," Luna said, nodding.

"Alright there, Harry?" Neville asked loudly, leaning over Luna. She didn't seem to mind Neville's close proximity.

"Yup," Harry said, nodding once. He lifted his drink to Neville. "Cheers."

"Cheers, Harry!" Neville said. They clanked glasses and drank. "Want to play a drinking game with us?"

"Oh, I better not. I've already had a few at home and I have to go to training in the morning."

"Oh the big fancy Auror," Seamus said, wagging his eyebrows, while Dean said, "Come on Harry, just a few drinks never hurt anyone!"

"I could give you the recipe for Wrackspurt tea. It's a great tonic for hangovers," Luna said.

"Oh alright, fine," Harry gave in. "Might as well."

"Alright Harry!" Seamus said.

Dean said, "How about let's play 'Never Have I Ever'?"

"Okay," Neville said, nodding. Luna nodded too.

"What's that?" Harry asked.

"We go around in a circle and say something we've never done," Seamus said, "If you've done the thing that the person says, then you have to take a drink. If you lie… what spell do we want to decide on? Nose grows?"

"Nah my long nose got in the way of drinking last time," Neville said.

"How about we blow smoke out our ears?" Dean suggested.

"Alright, yeah if you lie you'll blow smoke out your ears." Seamus pointed his wand at Harry but Harry jumped up, his hands raised before him.

"No offense, Seamus-" Everyone laughed, including Seamus.

"It's alright, I can do the charm," said someone behind Harry. "Mind if I play, too?"

"Come on," Dean said, conjuring a chair for her. It was Ginny. She sat down.

"Happy birthday, by the way! Not a day past seventeen and already playing drinking games in pubs!" Neville called across the table to her.

"Thanks," Ginny smiled. She glanced at Harry.

"Oh, Ginny, I didn't realize that it's already the eleventh. I'm—happy birthday," Harry said.

"Thanks," she said. Then, she pointed her wand at him and whispered the incantation. He felt a chill come over him. Ginny went around the table and charmed Luna, Neville, Seamus and Dean. Then, Dean charmed her.

"Right then, everyone have a drink?" Seamus asked. Everyone did. "Ginny, you go first since it's your birthday."

"Alright," she said. She glanced around the table. "Never have I ever… hmm… broken into Gringott's."

Harry was the only one at the table to drink. Everyone thought this was funny. He felt himself starting to sweat. He'd done a fair number of things that the rest of the others hadn't done. He wasn't keen on everyone knowing a few things he'd done recently…

This was probably a bad idea.

"You're next, Harry," Seamus coaxed.

"Right," Harry said. "Never have I ever… er… driven a car."

Dean was the only one to drink this time.

"Oh, what a muggle you are, Dean," Ginny said, tapping his arm.

"Hey, I'm not a muggle," he said. He pulled his wand out and flicked his wand at her. Her eyes turned from brown to purple.

"Oooh, do mine," Luna said. Her protuberant eyes seemed to stick out further than normal. He smiled and flicked his wand at her. She pulled a mirror from her purse. "Oh I love them. They're as green as Harry's! Thanks Dean!"

"Right, it's your turn Luna," Neville said, grinning at her.

"Oh, yes. Never have I ever killed anyone," Luna said.

"Too heavy, Luna," Seamus chided, shaking his head. Everyone at the table drank except for her.

"Oh, sorry," she said, raising her eyebrows. "I suppose it was."

"My turn then," Neville said. "Never have I ever stolen anything." Smoke immediately started blowing out of his ears. Dean and Seamus sniggered. "Oh, right, the sword. Well-"

"Oi, what's going on over here?" Ron asked, ambling over to the table with Hermione.

"We're playing 'Never Have I Ever'. Want to join?" Neville asked.

"Sure, I'll join," Ron said.

Everyone's ears started blowing smoke.

"Oh, that kind of tickles," Luna said. She rubbed her ears.

"Now we know how long it takes for the spell to think your lying," Dean said.

"Oh! There's Bill and Fleur! I think I'll just go say 'hello'," Hermione said. She hurried away from the table. Harry watched her go. No one else seemed to care.

Dean conjured a chair for Ron between Ginny's chair and where Harry sat in the booth. Ginny was forced to scoot closer to Dean to make room for him.

"My turn then. Well, how 'bout this one. Never have I ever kissed a man," Seamus said and sniggered. Ginny and Luna both drank.

Oddly, Ron's ears didn't blow smoke. Maybe a kiss on the cheek didn't count?

Harry realized: no one had charmed Ron yet. It probably would be too obvious to draw attention to this fact now…

"This game is definitely more difficult in mixed company," Dean said.

"Ah, the pitcher's dry," Seamus said at the same time.

"It's on me," Harry said, getting up with the empty pitcher. He went to the bar and was served right away. He'd hoped to be gone from the game longer.

He carried two pitchers back without spilling any. He was disappointed that they'd waited for him before continuing the game.

"Okay," Dean said, helping refill glasses with Harry, "Never have I ever gone skinny dipping."

Luna and Neville drank.

"Merlin, I could have gone without knowing that," Ron said, watching them drink.

"What? Are you imagining me naked now, Weasley?" Neville asked. He winked.

"I know _I_ am, you sexy beast," Seamus said, laughing.

"Look who's talking, Ron. You've gone skinny dipping in the pond," Ginny said.

"That doesn't count. I was only seven or so."

"It does too count."

"Oh, we forgot to charm him," Seamus said. Dean did the spell on Ron. At the same time, Harry's ears started blowing smoke.

"I've never—"

"Oh, when you almost drowned getting the sword in the forest. Remember?" Ron said.

"Oh, yeah. Right," Harry said.

"Right, Ginny's turn again," Dean said.

"Okay. Never have I ever smoked Wizard's Weed," Ginny said. Everyone at the table drank except for her. "Goodness, you all make me feel so innocent."

"Never have I ever aced a test without studying," Ron said. Ginny drank alone.

"I never realized what a good girl you are," Dean said to Ginny.

"Don't let her fool you," Harry said without thinking. Seamus laughed.

Ron punched Harry in the arm. "Oi, watch 'bout my sister."

"Sorry. Okay, I've got one," Harry said, "Never have I ever broken someone's heart." As soon as he said it though, smoke blew out of his ears.

"You've forgotten about old Romilda Vane, mate," Ron said, smiling. Harry glanced at Ginny. She had smoke blowing out of her ears too. So did Ron.

"Whose heart did you break then?" Harry asked Ron, ignoring Ginny. He met Ron's eyes. "Oh right. Lavender…"

George strolled over as they talked. Angelina stood a few feet away with her arms crossed. She looked worried.

"I have an announcement to make," George said, patting Ron on the back. Ron turned in his seat to George.

"I have decided that Ronniekins has had such a spiffing first day at work that I'm going to temporarily hand the shop over to him. Meanwhile, Angelina and I are going to travel the world for a bit."

"What?" Ginny said sharply, standing. Ron said nothing.

"Just for a year or two, dear little sis."

"What a wonderful idea," Luna said.

"George-" Harry said, standing as well. "Are you quite sure…"

"'Ittle Ronnie's life is coming together quite nicely," George said, patting Ron again, "He's going to marry his childhood sweetheart, and he's got a splendid job with me and now it's even better with me leaving. And here I am, can't stand the sight of the shop or my own flat without wanting to die. See? I leave, Ron carries on, everyone's happy."

"George," Ron said. He stood up between Ginny and Harry. "I don't know how to make any of the stuff. I barely know how to operate the register."

"Verity will be there to help you," George said.

"Can we talk about this later?" Ron asked quietly. "We're both a tad drunk."

"I'm always a tad drunk, little bro. Take it or leave it."

"I can't run the shop, George. Maybe after a couple of months, when I've learned the place better. I wouldn't begin to know how to make more stock-"

"Fine. Then we're closing the shop. Tomorrow's the last day," George said. His smile was beaming.

"George," Ron said. Angelina hurried forward and led George away.


	20. Blast-ended Skrewt

After George and Angelina left, it was quiet at the table for a moment.

"Right," Dean said to Ron, breaking the silence. "Well, now you can come back to Hogwarts with Ginny and Luna and me."

"And I'll be there too," Neville said, raising his glass.

"Yeah, I didn't tell you," Seamus said, "I'm going back too. Me Mam thought my education was a tad too botched for trying for the late N.E.W.T.s test over the summer."

"Yeah," Ron said. He glanced over his shoulder. "Maybe. Might as well..."

"Harry, you should come back too," Neville said.

"I don't know…" Harry said. He glanced at Ginny. "I should really head out for the night. I've got work in the morning."

"Skive off. You've done enough work to last a lifetime," Seamus said.

"Yeah, actually I think I'll head home too," Ron said. Standing with Harry.

"Maybe we'll have another party before the start of school though," Harry said, looking at the disappointed faces around the table. "After all, there's still a week left. Just the D.A."

"That sounds wonderful, Harry," Luna said. "Will you teach us more spells?"

"What?" Harry asked. "No, I just meant a smaller gathering."

"Right, see you," Harry said. He followed Ron across the room. They found Hermione. She seemed relieved that she was allowed to leave.

After saying good-bye to a few people, the three of them left together. Ron sidelong-Apparated with her since he said he was too drunk to do so himself.

"Tea?" Hermione offered when they came in through the front door.

"Sure," Ron said.

"Mm. Why not?" Harry agreed. The boys followed her down to the kitchen. She put the kettle on.

"So what's wrong?" Hermione asked as her back was turned. She was retrieving mugs from a china cabinet at the end of the long kitchen. Upstairs somewhere, a clock chimed twelve. Ron waited for the chiming to stop before he spoke.

"George is closing the shop," Ron said.

"Oh," Hermione said, turning. Harry could tell she was trying not to act too surprised. "Why? I thought business was doing well?"

"He wants to travel the world. With Angelina Johnson."

"I think your mother will probably not take that well," Hermione said slowly. Ron only shrugged.

"George offered Ron the shop first, but Ron turned him down," Harry explained.

"I'm going to go back to Hogwarts. Take my N.E.W.T.s and become an Auror, like Harry. It makes sense."

"You should do what makes you happy," Hermione said. Harry met her eyes for a moment and they both looked away from each other.

Ron glanced between the two of them. It was quiet for a few seconds and then the kettle's faint squeal rose to a loud scream. Hermione moved the kettle off the flame and turned the burner off.

Then, as she poured tea into three cups, Ron asked quietly, "What was that look about? That you two just gave each other?"

Harry tensed.

"What look?" Hermione asked without looking up from her work.

"I saw you and Harry just look at each other. When you said something about doing what makes me happy. What was that about?"

"Oh. Well, er… Harry and-"

"I failed my exam today," Harry said. He was surprised by how steady his voice was. "Haven't had a chance to tell you. Hermione and I talked a bit after she came home from seeing you and you know, your engagement. She told me that I need to do what makes me happy."

"Oh," Ron said. He laid his head down on the long kitchen table. "Knowing what will make you happy is the hard part though, isn't it?"

"Yes," Hermione said, setting down the cups of tea and then sitting down. Ron glanced at her. Then he grabbed her hand. Sitting up a little, he kissed her wrist. Just a peck.

"Well, I have you. You make me happy," Ron said to her. She half-smiled and then self-consciously glanced to Harry. "No offense, Harry," Ron added, "I know it's probably still sore with Ginny…"

Harry only shook his head and took a sip of tea. "Hermione and I smoked Wizard's Weed together before we left for the party tonight," he said, setting his cup down. "I saw myself married to Ginny. She told me she was pregnant. It was nice."

"See? Maybe it'll still happen," Ron said, sitting up and clapping Harry's shoulder from across the table. "She just needs time. If you think _I'm_ stubborn…"

"Honestly, in a lot of ways, I barely know her," Harry said. "If I marry Ginny, it'll be a long time from now."

"Well, you already know her family. That's probably the worst part for most people I'd expect. Meeting the family I mean. Not that I don't like your parents, Hermione."

"Right, I know what you mean," she said. They all were quiet while they drank their tea.

"Do you reckon…" Ron stared down at his cup. "That George was serious? He said he wants to die. I don't know what to make of that." He looked over at Hermione.

She shook her head. "I don't know. Surely if he goes away for a while… maybe it'll help?"

"Running away from your problems tends to only make them worse," Harry said quietly.

"Yes but surely some fresh air, so to speak, will help gain perspective on his life," Hermione said. "It's not for us to say what's best for him."

"Yeah," Ron agreed. Harry finished off his tea and said nothing.

"Well, I'm off to bed," Hermione said, standing. She stood, kissed Ron's cheek, tapped Harry's hand and then went upstairs.

"Do you feel like there's something off about her?" Ron asked softly once they heard Hermione reach the upstairs landing.

"What do you mean?"

"She seems… I don't know. Distant."

"Really?"

"Yeah, ever since we moved in here, really…"

"Well, the past year has been hard on everyone. She's still adjusting."

"And with her parents up and gone before we even had a chance to try the Pensieve-"

"Yeah, that's a bit odd, isn't it? I mean, she seemed so sure we should try the Pensieve and then she let them leave without trying it."

"Yeah, that is odd. It's not like her, really. She doesn't give up easily." Ron finished his tea.

"Right." Harry made the decision then. "I know it seems a bit grim right now. You lost your job after working only a day with George. But at least now you'll get to spend the next week or so with Hermione before school starts and she's buried in schoolwork again. Maybe she'll seem less distant after a day or two."

"That's true." Ron stood and stretched. Harry levitated the cups to the wash basin. "And I bet there's a Wizard's Chess set around here somewhere. It's been ages since I've beat you."

"You mean it's been ages since we've played."

"Same thing."

Harry laughed.

They walked upstairs. Ron veered off on the floor they usually stayed on while Harry continued up to Sirius's room.

Upon entering Sirius's room, Harry imagined leaving for a year or two and going wherever he wanted to go. He supposed he had enough money. The idea was, not surprisingly, very freeing.

That's when he remembered the stack of papers from his Gringott's vault. He never read through them. Climbing into bed, he started skimming through them by wand light.

* * *

Ron stopped with his hand on the doorknob to his bedroom. Hermione was just a door down from him…

He turned away from his own door and walked to hers. He knocked.

"Hermione," he whispered toward the door. "Are you still awake?"

He heard a shuffling noise inside her room and then the door clicked open. Hermione peeked out at him.

"Ron, what is it?" she whispered.

"Why are you whispering?" he whispered back. She only looked at him, still waiting to learn what he was doing there. "I want to talk to you."

"Can't it wait until morning?"

"No."

They stared at each other for another moment before Hermione gave in and opened her door wider to let him in. She was already in pajamas.

He shut the door behind himself and they sat down together on her bed. A jar of blue flames sat on her bedside table.

"How come they're always blue?" Ron asked, distracted.

"Blue burns hotter than orange or yellow," Hermione said immediately. "It's the strength of the spell… Is this what you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Well no, of course not," Ron said. He took a steadying breath. "Are you sure you want to be engaged?"

"What?" she asked.

"Sorry," he said immediately, "It's just, you've seemed so… off lately. Harry thinks you're still adjusting after the battle, but I don't know… something seems weird to me."

"Ron… of course I want to be engaged. I asked you, remember?"

Ron grabbed her hand. She didn't pull away but she also didn't hold it back. Even when they were "just friends" she always held his hand back.

"Look, I'm not going anywhere. There's no rush to get married, alright?" he said, gazing down at her hand.

"I know…"

"I love you," he said, looking up at her face again. She gazed back at him.

"I love you too," she whispered. "I'm so sorry…"

"You don't have anything to be sorry for." He scooted forward and hooked his arm around her. She leaned forward and laid her head on his chest.

"Yes I do. I've been retched-I-"

"Please don't apologize," he said. He tilted her chin up to meet him and kissed her gently, only a peck.

And then he kissed her again. She didn't stop him. He deepened the kiss. He needed her.

"Ron, please-"

Leaning back a bit, he saw little shiny trails of tears making their way down her cheeks. Reflexively, he wiped them away.

"It's okay, everything is going to be okay. As long as we have each other. Please don't cry. You should know by now that a cold shoulder from you for a few days won't put me off."

She met his eyes then and scowled for a second. But then the corner of her mouth turned up, quirking into a smile. He smiled back at her.

"Why are you always so _warm_?" she whispered. Their noses grazed each other's as he leaned forward to brush a kiss on her lips again.

"Well, maybe it's because you're such a cold fish? We need some balance."

"I am not a cold fish!" she said. She made a noise like a hissing cat.

"Shh! I'm just joking. Please don't be cross."

"I'm not cross! Ugh! You-you Blast-ended Skrewt!"

"What did you just call me?" Ron scoffed. "A Blast-ended Skrewt! Now you'll get it… I might have to sting you…" He inched forward as Hermione inched back until he was half-way over top of her. Then, grinning widely, he leaned down and bit her earlobe.

"Ah!"

"Yes watch out I don't burn you," he whispered into her ear before leaning back and smiling at her.

"Oh Merlin, Ron," Hermione said, sniggering.

Ron sat up straighter with sudden-realization. "You know, if I'm a Blast-ended Skrewt, then that means you're Blast-ended Skrewt too."

"No, no, that's not how-"

"And I do remember something about the females…"

"Oh yes? And what is that?"

"Well, while the males sting, the females-they suck."

"Excuse me?" Hermione asked, wide eyed. Then her face relaxed into a grin. "Points to you for remembering anything from school."

"Thanks," he said, grinning back.

"But I'm not a Blast-ended Skrewt. And if you continue your lewd innuendoes-"

He cut her off by kissing her again, this time harder. She stiffened for a moment, having been caught off guard, but then she kissed him back.

Ron held her face in his hands. He didn't want her to pull away again. She laid her palms gently on the backs of his shoulders. Then she pulled him closer to herself.

As she scooted downward toward the bed, he came down with her. Bravely, as they moved, his hands left her face and while one held his weight off of her on the bed, the other grazed her chest as they kissed.

Hermione moaned. He moved his hand over her again.

This time she lifted her chest slightly so his hand pressed down against her. It was his turn to moan.

Leaning up so his weight was on his knees, he quickly unbuttoned her pajama top. Her eyes were shut, he saw. But just as he saw this, her eyes fluttered open.

She smiled at him. He smiled back.

Then, she sat up and he pushed her top back. But then, it got caught on her wrists.

"It's gotten bunched. There are buttons…" she said.

"Wait, I'll get it." They knocked heads as he leaned closer to her, trying to be helpful.

"Ouch," Hermione said, leaning so he could get to her wrist more easily.

"Sorry," he said softly. One of her wrists was freed, then he worked in silence on the other.

"I can't get it—ah, there," he said finally. "You know, I should have used that to my advantage."

"What? You want to tie me up?" Hermione said, scoffing.

"No, I mean, I was only joking…" He swallowed hard and looked away from her. "I think you're more likely to tie me up, not the other way around. Not that I'd mind. I mean, I don't want you to tie me up, but if you wanted to…"

It fell silent between them for a moment.

"Right," Hermione said finally, smirking at him. He finally ventured to look at her again. He'd seen her without her shirt on before, but this was the first time he'd seen her without a bra. Mildly surprised at what he saw before him, he leaned forward and kissed her neck.

"I love you so much," she whispered.

"I love you too," he said back, his lips against her skin still. She pulled his t-shirt up over his head and then pulled him back down so she laid on the bed with him on top of her.

Her hands found his trousers. This was new.

As she unzipped them, he only kept kissing her neck, afraid to do anything else.

He was afraid to take any more of her clothing off. After all, he'd never done it before. He didn't know how far she wanted to go.

"Hermione," he whispered, when he felt her hands at the band of his pants, "are you quite sure?" He leaned further up on his elbows so he could see her face better.

"I've never been surer of anything," she said back, staring into his eyes.

"Wow…" He couldn't help but smile. "That's quite sure, then."

They both laughed quietly.

"Please don't be afraid of me," she said. He glanced up at her again. He hadn't noticed until then, but his arms were shaking. He wasn't sure why.

He leaned down and kissed her lips again. He felt her move under him and knew she was taking her pajama bottoms off.

He let his hand graze down her side and over the side of her hip. She was completely naked.

"Oh my God, Hermione."

After they kissed for a moment longer, she pushed his pants off of him. He helped by pushing them and then kicking them the rest of the way off his feet. He was naked too.

"Hermione," he whispered. "Please tell me if I do something wrong."

"I'd never hesitate. You know that." Neither of them laughed.

His hand ventured to the apex of her thighs…

"I'm so happy you're going to be my wife."

"Oh Ron," she said. Her hand moved up from his shoulders to the back of his neck. Gently, she pulled him down toward her and kissed him.

Slowly, as he kissed her, he entered her.

She held him tightly so he stayed still against her. He reveled in the feel of her skin against his. Then, after a moment, she moved against him and he moved with her.

"Is everything alright?" he whispered into her ear.

"Never better," she said, her voice shaking.

"I wish we could do this forever," he said, his nose in her hair.

"Mmmhmm…" She shut her eyes, her hands grabbing hard onto his shoulders as he moved a little faster.

"My-nee…"

"Ohh…"

"You okay?"

"Yes. Don't stop, don't stop," she said shaking her head. He leaned up and looked at her face and stilled. He saw tears running down her cheeks again.

"You're crying. If I've hurt you, you can tell me," he whispered. She wiped her tears onto her arm and tried to grin.

"I'm fine. Please," she said, leaning up to kiss him. He wasn't convinced. She gazed at him for a moment and then, biting her lip, she grinded herself against him. "Please?" she said again.

"Oh, Merlin, you're going to make me come if you do that again."

She laughed.

Ron kissed her as he started again. She wrapped her legs around him and held him so her cheek was against his chest. As they began moving together, he kissed her collarbone as it was what was closest to his lips.

"Please don't ever leave me, alright?" she whispered breathlessly, "No matter what."

"I'd never leave you. Not after this past winter." He trailed his kisses down from her collarbone to her shoulder.

"Promise me." He found her hands. He held them down in his against the bed.

"I could never… leave your side, 'Mione… I promise… I'll never leave you… Trust me…"


	21. To Wake Up Next to Him

When morning came, Hermione woke feeling confused. Why was Ron in her bed?

And then the night before came flooding back. Ron wasn't a virgin anymore.

He smelled good. The heavy drapes didn't let much light in. The light that did find them made Ron's hair seem to glow a little in the dark room.

How many times had she imagined what it'd be like to share a bed with him? To wake up next to him?

And yet she felt so utterly guilty about the whole thing.

She had to talk to Harry.

Quietly, so as to not to disturb Ron's sleep, she slid out of her narrow bed, slipped her pajamas back on and tiptoed to the door. Without a backward glance, she stepped into the hallway and clicked the door shut behind herself.

Should she try Harry's room? Or wait downstairs in the kitchen? Maybe he was already down there? What time was it?

She started down the stairs and was glad she had opted for waiting in the kitchen because even from a floor above, she could already smell toast.

Harry was sitting at the kitchen table with a bunch of papers in front of him. Hermione watched as he took a sip of tea.

"Harry," Hermione said softly from the doorway. He flinched and glanced up. "Sorry," she said.

"'Salright. Sleep well?"

"Mm. Yes. You?"

"Not really. Toast?"

"Oh. Yes, please." Hermione padded over to the kettle and poured herself a cup of tea while Harry magically popped a piece of bread in the toaster behind him. "What are you reading?"

"I've finally started going through these papers. From my parents' vault. I wish someone had told me… I have enough money that I could probably go without working a day in my life. And that real estate agent was right. I own what's left of my parents' house in Godric's Hollow."

"Wow. That's good."

"Mm."

"Are you going to fix it up? The house?"

"I don't know… I want to, but, well, you saw it. It's sort of a monument…"

"Right. But, I think your parents would have liked the idea of you moving in there someday."

"Yeah? You think so?" Harry looked down at the papers. She wondered what he was thinking. He seemed embarrassed, but she wasn't sure why.

"Listen, Harry…" While she was embarrassing Harry, she figured she might as well say what she wanted to say when she woke up. "You know I care for you so much. More than anything. You're like the brother I never had."

He looked up at her with a questioning look. "I hope you wouldn't kiss your brother the way you kissed me." The corner of his mouth quirked up.

"No." Hermione stared at him for a moment. "I… Harry I'm sorry I was so confused. I was just scared of the thought of spending the rest of my life with a guy I've known since I was eleven."

Harry didn't look up from the papers but she could tell he wasn't reading them. "I thought you were twelve when we started first year?"

"Harry-"

He glanced up at her and then to the sink. "You know, if you and I had ended up together, you still would have ended up with a guy who you've known for that long." Harry stood and carried his empty tea cup to the sink as Hermione's toast popped up in the toaster. "Scourgify." Harry stood with his back turned to Hermione as his cup washed itself in the basin. Hermione stared across the room at her toast but didn't move to get it.

"I know. Look." She gazed over her shoulder at the doorway even though she knew no one was there. Harry didn't turn to face her so she spoke to his back. "I don't know what that was between us, but we can never be together. I'm so sorry Harry. I love you so much, I hope you know that. But we can only be friends. I wish we'd never done what we've done."

"Hermione," Harry whispered. He still didn't turn to face her. Hermione walked to his side and leaned her hip against the sink so she could see his face in profile.

"What?" she whispered back.

"I get it. You can stop saying it now, okay?"

"If Ron had never come back… maybe things would have been different." She shrugged and watched Harry's jaw clench.

"But he did come back."

"Yes. He did." She paused for a moment and then said in a whisper, "I think I'm just trying to convince myself as much as I'm trying to convince you."

They were quiet for a minute while Hermione bit her lip. Harry kept staring at his cup in the basin.

"Ron and I were… together… last night," Hermione said softly after a moment.

"Together?" He finally looked up at her. His big green eyes seemed even larger behind his glasses.

She tried to keep her voice even. "It felt right. Like the way things should be."

"Right. I'm sorry. I'm glad you've gotten things figured out. We were both just confused, like you said."

She could see the pain in his face. It took everything she had not to touch him. "Right," Hermione said, trying to grin reassuringly.

Harry's gaze jumped all over her face. Her eyes, her cheeks, her lips, her eyebrows… Hermione suddenly realized how close she'd been standing to him. She wanted to make herself take a step back, but she didn't.

"Do you want me to Obliviate you?" Harry asked her quietly. He slipped his wand from his back pocket and held it up to show her that he had it.

Hermione felt tears spring to her eyes. She thought of the night she came to his room surrounded by jars of blue flames, and then later on, when she was naked with him in his bed… did she want to forget that?

"I-I don't know. Do you want me to Obliviate you?" She didn't want to do it.

"No." He smiled sadly. "I don't think that'd be very… safe." Could he see in her face that she didn't feel the same way? He kissed her forehead and wiped her tears away with his thumbs.

Then, he took a step back and, concentration worrying his eyebrows, he cast the memory charm on Hermione. She wouldn't remember any kiss that they shared. Not even the first one-the one on the bathroom floor that was an accident. Nor would she remember the Fates that they shared.

He watched as Hermione's eyes unfocused for moment and then he strode away toward the door. He didn't want her to see how upset he was when she came back to reality.

After what seemed like an eternity, Hermione spoke again. "Oh, Harry, I'm sorry. What were we talking about? I dazed out there for a second."

"Oh just those papers on the table there. You should take a look at them. I'm off," Harry said from the doorway. He stared pointedly toward the floor.

"Oh right. Work. What time is it?" She glanced around but there wasn't a clock in the room.

"I'm already late for work but I don't care as I'm quitting."

"Oh. Are you sure that's what you want to do?" Hermione crossed her arms over her chest.

"I need one more year before I start at the ministry I think. There's so many things I need to do." He turned to leave.

"Harry-"

He turned back toward the kitchen once more and waited silently for her to speak.

"Oh. I was going to say something but it just slipped my mind. Sorry."

Harry nodded once and seemed like he tried to smile. Then, he looked down to the ground again, turned and walked away.

Slowly, Hermione made her way back to the table and sat down. She sipped her tea until, to her surprise, it was gone.

She hardly ever got this feeling-like something was just beyond her, on the tip of her brain. She was forgetting something. It was an annoying feeling.

Setting her cup down on its saucer, she saw that Harry's papers from the bank were still sitting in a neat pile on the table. Slowly, she pulled the papers toward herself and began to read.

The first thing on the pile was a parchment that was so long that it was folded up at least five times over. It was titled "Gringott's Bank Magically Calculated Monthly Balance of Vault 687: Potter" and in very small font were the month, year and balance for decades. It appeared to Hermione that in the years before and while Harry was at Hogwarts, the balance accrued so much interest that Harry now had at least ten percent more money than his parents actually left him. He was right, he really didn't have to work.

He had the deeds for Number 12 Grimmauld Place and his parents' house in Godric's Hollow. His birth certificate. His parents' birth and death certificates. Oddly, also Sirius's birth and death certificates.

There was a magically recorded birth and death record for his family… Hermione's mouth dropped open: it began with the Ignotius Peverell. She supposed she shouldn't be surprised.

And, there was a birth certificate for a baby born less than a year ago: Edward Remus Lupin.


	22. Four Tiny Hooting Owls

When Harry shut the door to Grimmauld Place behind himself, he took a deep breath and stopped there on the top step.

As long as his spell held, things would be as they should be again. Ron and Hermione belonged together. He did the right thing in making her forget.

He didn't know where he was supposed to go or who he would be with, if anyone… ever. Maybe he'd be alone for the rest of his life? Harry Potter, the Man who Died Alone.

Hermione knew who she wanted. She knew that she could have kept things going with him and she chose not to. She chose Ron. That was the end of it. And now, with Hermione Obliviated, Ron need never know.

It hurt Harry a little to realize that Hermione did have feelings for him at all, they just weren't strong enough to overpower her feelings for someone else. He was glad-overjoyed even-that his relationship with Ron need not be destroyed. However, it still felt like losing a contest.

And it made Harry wonder. If Hermione, who knew him completely, didn't choose him over someone else, then was anyone else very likely to?

He wished that Lupin was still alive. Or Sirius. Or Dumbledore. Or his parents. Who did he have that he could actually talk to about this?

Everyone in the wizarding world knew his name and yet he had no one.

* * *

When Ron woke up, he was disappointed to find himself alone. He was afraid for a moment that the night before had only been a dream. But then he quickly realized that it could not have been: he was in Hermione's bed.

Pulling on his pajama bottoms, he wondered if Hermione had put her clothes back on in the morning or sometime during the night. He'd fallen so deeply asleep that he couldn't be sure.

Coming downstairs, he saw that Hermione had already finished her tea and was eating a piece of toast while reading something. She looked the same as she did every morning and yet today she was even more beautiful.

Leaning down, he kissed the top of her head.

"Mm, morning," she said with her mouth half-full of toast.

"Good morning," he said. He put the kettle on the stove and started making himself toasted cheese. "What are you reading?"

"Oh, some papers… of Harry's."

"Oh yeah?"

Hermione glanced up from the papers. "He told me to look at them. They're from his vault at Gringott's."

Ron sat down at the end of the table while he waited for the kettle. "Anything interesting?"

"Erm, well he has the birth certificate for Remus and Tonk's baby…"

"Does he? Is he supposed to take care of their baby? I hadn't even thought of that-he'd agreed to be the baby's godfather and all."

"I don't know. He left quickly this morning after having tea. He was already late for work but said he was quitting today."

"Oh. Right, I supposed he did mention that last night." The kettle started screaming so Ron hopped up. His toasted cheese popped up in the toaster then too. "Do you think we should try to find the baby for him? Help him out?" Ron asked over his shoulder while he was busy making himself tea.

"Well, I don't think there's much question as to where the baby is. I'm sure Tonks left him with her mother. He must be there."

"Oh, yeah. I'm surprised this didn't come up earlier. Like at the funerals."

"Well, I remember Andromeda saying something about the baby… she called him Teddy… she'd left him with a nanny at home." Hermione tapped the papers into a neat pile and set them aside. "She must be exhausted."

"Want to adopt him?" Ron asked, sitting down at the table with his tea and sandwich.

"What, you and I adopt him? You're so funny," Hermione said, raising an eyebrow and sitting back in her seat. She realized suddenly how easy it still was to talk to Ron. As though last night never happened, or rather, that it happened all the time and wasn't a big deal. She was tempted to try Legilimency on him just then but had never gotten much practice with it.

"I'm sure Harry must have talked to Andromeda about the baby in private during all that." Ron's mouth was full. "He just didn't have a reason to tell us."

"Probably. But I don't know… he'd been so busy with the courts and testimony and everything. It's likely that Andromeda didn't want to bother him. Probably, she intends to keep the baby, in all likelihood. And anyway, what would Harry do with a baby?"

"Hey, I think Harry would make a great dad. You saw the way he protected the locket. Imagine how he'd treat something he actually _liked_."

Hermione laughed. And after a moment, she realized Ron was staring at her. Belatedly, he grinned and took a quick sip of tea. She didn't need Legilimency then to know that he had to have been thinking about the night before.

"So what do you want to do today?" Hermione asked. She stood up to get herself another cup of tea.

"Er," Ron said, "I wouldn't mind a repeat of last night."

"Ronald!" Hermione spat over her shoulder. Ron turned in his chair so he could see her.

"I was just joking… well sort of joking… actually there was something that I think we should do. I was thinking of going on my own before, but now I think it might be a better idea if you come with me. Seeing as you proposed to me and all and not the other way around."

"Oh so something wedding related?" Hermione walked back to the table with her refilled cup of tea. "Do you want me to buy you an engagement ring?"

"No, I don't want an engagement ring… but-"

"Do I get one then?"

"Of course. I thought we could take a trip to the Burrow and see my parents. And eventually, maybe next week we could go to Australia. Just a short trip, a day or two. I wanted to be there with you when you try the Pensieve on them—your parents—to try to get them to remember you better. And I wanted to ask their permission to marry you. I guess I don't need their permission… maybe you should ask my parents' permission instead?"

"Does it bother you that I asked you so unromantically to marry me? If you want, I'll take it back."

Ron gazed at her for a moment. Hermione tried to keep her face blank. She didn't want to take it back. Maybe she thought she did at some point, but she couldn't see any reason why she had felt that way. Not now.

"Yeah alright, take it back."

"Really?"

"Yeah take it back. I want to be the one asking you, not the other way around."

"Fine," Hermione said, straightening in her chair, "I take it back. Engagement's off Ron." As she said it, she thought about how everyone (except her parents) already knew about the engagement. Except maybe Ron's parents. She realized they really should have told them first.

"Good," Ron said, half-grinning. "Let's go over to my parents' house in a bit then."

* * *

Quitting his job was surprisingly easy. That's not to say Kingsley Shacklebolt wasn't disappointed, but he told Harry that there'd always be a position for him with the department when he was ready to come back.

Harry left feeling awkward and unsure of his decision. He hated this feeling. It was becoming entirely too familiar.

His time at Hogwarts had been a time of such certainty. Even when he was warring in his head between the Hallows and Horcruxes, underneath it all, he still knew what the right thing to do ultimately was. He had to have blind faith, sure, and the choices he made were not easy ones. And he was blindly searching for the better part of the year… But still, there was no doubting what the Right thing was. There was no doubting what he was meant to do each day, what to think about, what to aim for.

Now, Harry doubted everything. His life, quite simply, no longer had a direction. He hadn't felt this alone or uncertain since he was ten and had never heard of Hogwarts.

It did not help that lately, he felt like an Untouchable. Ginny, his prize, the girl he always somehow thought of as his, didn't want him. And Hermione, the person he trusted most in the entire world with every secret and every weakness, also didn't want him. If they didn't want him, who else could possibly want him?

Added to that, Harry thought as he strode toward one of the many floo grates at the entrance of the Ministry, he was alive. After everything. Even though so many others had died. And he'd completely forgotten about Remus's son again until last night at about four in the morning.

"When you get on your feet and settled," Andromeda had said at Tonks's and Remus's funeral, "it'd be lovely if you came 'round. I know how much they wanted you to be a part of Teddy's life… They named you as his godfather, you know."

"I know. Remus asked… Of course," he'd said.

That was a month and a half ago. Instead he'd been smoking Wizard's Weed, kissing his best friend's girl, getting drunk, and floundering around trying to make up his mind on whether or not to go back to school.

Even Sirius, Harry thought, would not approve of his behavior as of late.

Harry no longer had any idea who he was.

Stepping into the grate, he said Andromeda's address aloud. Five very uncomfortable seconds later, Harry stepped out of the fireplace into Andromeda's sitting room.

There in the center of the seating area sat a baby bundled up in a white bassinet. A mobile spun slowly above the baby's head. Four tiny hooting owls each hung from one of four spokes. The baby was sleeping.

Belatedly, as Harry stared down at the tiny, vibrantly-blue-haired baby, quick footsteps padded down the hall.

"Who's there?" Andromeda called in a yelled-whisper. Harry looked up and saw that a woman, who looked too much like Narcissa Malfoy, pointed her wand at him from across the room. As soon as Harry looked up though, she let it drop to her side and hurried forward.

"Harry!" she whispered. "I'm so glad to see you. I knew you'd come."

"Yes," Harry whispered back, "It did take a while though."

"Well, I know you've been busy. Come and have a spot of tea. Teddy'll be up from his nap soon, but hopefully not quite yet," she said and winked. Harry grinned at her and followed her from the room through to the kitchen.

He sat down at a small table in the corner of the kitchen. There was already a cup of tea there, half gone. She poured him a cup and brought it to him.

"In all honesty, things have settled down in the past few weeks. I've moved, gotten settled a bit," Harry said, breaking the silence in a quiet voice.

"Well surely not as busy as you were with the Horcruxes. I read the write-up in the Daily Prophet from your testimony. It's quite a year you had."

"We've all had quite a year," Harry said. He looked down at his cup.

"Too true," she agreed softly.

"I know you've probably been exhausted. I've heard that taking care of new babies can be tiring, though I've obviously never done it."

"Well, Molly has been a real help. Been taking him twice a week for a few hours while I get a bit of cleaning and errands done."

"I'd like to help too," Harry said immediately. He wanted to say how much he'd love to have a few more years, or even a few more hours, with Remus, his last connection to his father. But he didn't have the words to convey how strongly he felt this, so he didn't say it. Instead he said, "I want very much for Teddy and me to know each other. I'd like to be a sort of fatherly figure to him if I am able."

"Of course. That would be lovely. I'm sure that's what they would want." She reached forward and tapped Harry's hand consolingly.

"I'm going to go back to Hogwarts to complete my schooling. But I'm sure I could come and visit or we can work something out where I'll bring him there."

"Oh, I thought you started a job at the ministry? That's last I heard."

"That turned out to be a mistake. There are so many things I need to finish. Hogwarts was my home since I was eleven. If I can have one more year there, I'll take it." Harry smiled and Andromeda smiled too.

"Well, we'll work something out, no doubt. And if you miss a few weeks here and there, Teddy surely won't remember it. Not yet anyway." She winked at him.

Teddy started coo-like moans in the other room, which quickly turned into wailing.

Harry followed Andromeda into the sitting room. She'd already picked the baby up from the bassinet and was trying to calm him by the time Harry reached her side. The soot from travelling through the fireplace wasn't that bad, but still, to touch a baby, it was too much for Harry's liking.

Quickly, he pulled out his wand and tried to siphon off the soot.

"Oh, it's fine," Andromeda said, noticing what Harry was doing as the baby calmed down. Even though she said that, holding the baby up against her chest, she pulled her wand out of her pocket and cleaned Harry in one swipe, quickly and efficiently.

"Thanks."

"Once you get used to the spit up, that charm comes a lot more easily," she said, smirking. Harry laughed, which caught the baby's attention. He turned his head and gazed at Harry.

"Hello," Harry said, smiling at Teddy. Teddy smiled. As he did, his blue tuft of hair turned to a bright yellow. "That's quite a trick, little guy."

Silently, Andromeda held Teddy out to Harry. Awkwardly, he took the baby from her and settled him against his chest. Carefully, he paced to a nearby sofa and sat down.

"Ah, that's better," Harry said, looking down at the baby. He glanced at Andromeda, who was watching them intently. "Shall I tell you a story about your daddy?" he asked Teddy.

Teddy was staring at Harry with wide eyes, so Harry continued as though he'd answered.

"Well, let me tell you about the day I met your father. Brace yourself, it's a bit scary, but your daddy was quite the hero so have no fear." Harry gazed at the little boy as his hair changed to a deep purple color. The little boy gazed back intently. "Right then. My friends and I were trying to find a place to sit on the Hogwarts Express on the ride to school of my third year…"

* * *

Later on, after Teddy went down for his second nap, Harry planned out his next visit with Andromeda. Because he'd be starting school again and wasn't sure when he'd be able to leave Hogwarts, they planned a tentative meeting in Hogsmeade for a week after the start of school.

Harry left through Andromeda's front door, Apparated back to Number Twelve, sat down and without hesitation, he conjured some parchment and a quill and ink. Then, he wrote to Ginny.


	23. At the Burrow Again

Ron knocked at the door of the Burrow for the first time in his life that he could recall. Ginny answered.

"What are you doing knocking at the door, prat? Come inside. Oh, hi Hermione," she said, belatedly noticing Hermione behind Ron.

"Is Dad still at work?" Ron asked but he need not have. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were both sitting at the kitchen table.

"Ron, Hermione!" Mrs. Weasley said, hopping up from her chair. She pulled Hermione into a hug and then Ron and then Hermione again. "We've heard the news! Lovely, lovely! We're so thrilled!"

Mr. Weasley stood, setting down his Daily Prophet and hugged them each as well. "Very happy, yes! Well done!"

As it was nearly lunch time, Mrs. Weasley already had lunch made. She got them plates of chicken sandwiches and glasses of pumpkin juice. Ginny sat in her chair near the fireplace with her arms crossed over her chest. She was smiling though.

"So!" Mrs. Weasley said, pushing them down into chairs and then plopping back down into her own again, "Have you chosen a date yet?"

"Well," Ron said, "We haven't told Hermione's parents yet. So maybe we'll start planning after that? We're thinking of going to Australia for a day or two before school starts again."

"Well, I mean…" Hermione cut in before Mrs. Weasley could respond, "Well I was thinking it'd have to be after we graduate from Hogwarts. So maybe July?"

"Wonderful! Of course, this is just what Arthur and I did. Summer after seventh year," Molly said, patting Hermione's hand. Ron started eating the lunch in front of him despite having already eaten.

"Will you have the wedding here at the Burrow?" Ginny asked.

Hermione glanced at Ron. It was suddenly feeling more real, talking about the wedding this way. "Ron and I haven't really talked about any of this yet. We've only just-"

"Well, where else would we have it though, 'Mione? I suppose we could have it in Hogsmeade. With all my wizarding relatives, you don't want to have it in a Muggle place. Too much explaining and Memory Charming would be involved."

"There's the Leaky Cauldron?" Ginny suggested.

"People get married in the Ministry sometimes," Arthur put in from over his cup of tea.

"No, no," Hermione said, grinning, "Of course we should have it here. It'll be beautiful, like… well Fleur and Bill's wedding, until things… well you know," Hermione finished lamely.

"Right," Mrs. Weasley said, nodding. "Well, there's plenty of time to plan all this out. Each bride has her particulars that she wants. For me it was my dress robes… oh, and the cake! Arthur, do you remember our cake?"

"Mm."

"It had a well-wishing fountain. So beautiful. And huge. I think we have some pictures in an album upstairs. I'll show it to you sometime."

"Dad, I'm surprised you're already home from work," Ron said, ignoring his mother.

"Oh! You haven't heard our news! Arthur-"

"I have accepted a position as the new Muggle Studies professor at Hogwarts," Arthur said, smiling.

"Cheers, dad!" Ron said, grinning with his mouth half-full still.

"Congrats," Hermione said smiling.

"It'll be quite a jump in pay, which you wouldn't think," Molly said, theatrically holding her hand up by her mouth as though she were telling a secret.

Hermione nodded and took a bite of her sandwich so she wouldn't have to speak.

"I've been studying up," Arthur said, "Reading up, you know. Want to know the facts as it won't just be a hobby anymore. But it ought to be good fun."

"It'll be strange having Neville as one of the professors and dad as another one of them," Ron said, "Just think of it. They'll be sitting at the head table."

"Gosh, I didn't think of that," Ginny said.

"They still haven't found a professor for Defense Against the Dark Arts or Transfiguration," Mrs. Weasley said, "Professor McGonagall might have to teach Transfiguration this year as well as act as Headmistress. It's too much work for one person."

"Harry ought to teach Defense," Ron said, shrugging.

"Don't think they didn't think of that," Arthur said, "But as he's working for the Magical Law Enforcement Office-"

"No, he's quitting today, actually," Ron said.

"More like taking a leave of absence. He's going to come back to Hogwarts after all," Hermione explained.

"Did he?" Mr. Weasley said while at the same time, Ron spoke.

"As am I," Ron said, realizing he hadn't told his parents this.

"I knew you would. I owled Professor McGonagall earlier and let her know."

"Thanks, Mum." Ron had finished his sandwich and wordlessly switched his plate with Hermione's and started on hers. Hermione was relieved. She didn't think she'd be able to finish it.

"Apparently there's a fair number of people on the fence as to whether to come back or not."

"You're eating even more than usual, which is really saying something," Ginny commented, watching her brother eat.

"Mm. I'm hungry, lay off."

At this, Hermione felt herself blush for some reason. She hoped no one noticed.

Just then, an owl flew in through the open kitchen window and landed gracefully in the center of the table, lifting its leg to Mrs. Weasley.

"Oh, that's Harry's owl," Ron said. "Bilius."

"He named his owl after you?" Ginny asked. "I don't know why I'm surprised."

Mrs. Weasley untied the letter and the owl flew over to the window sill and perched there, waiting.

"It's for you, Ginny," Mrs. Weasley said, handing the folded parchment across the table.

"Oh." Ginny stood and, taking the parchment into the next room, she left the rest of them in silence.

Mrs. Weasley cleared her throat after a moment. "So," she said, "I know you haven't talked about it, but Ron won't care about the little details of a wedding. He's a man."

"I'm not very particular either, really," Hermione said. "I'd like things to be tasteful, but not over the top."

"We should have those same cream puff things that Bill and Fleur had," Ron put in.

"Yes, I suppose we should have food, too," Hermione said, smirking over at Ron.

"Hey, those things were amazing. Had you had one?"

Then, Ginny came back into the room. Her face was beet-red. Hermione had thought she'd been blushing at first, but then she noticed tears in the corners of her eyes.

"It was from Harry. He wants to meet me later on today in the Leaky Cauldron. To talk."

"Oh, alright," Mrs. Weasley said.

"Just, I'm going to just go write a quick reply. Be back in a 'mo," Ginny said, and then hurried up to her room.

"That was a bit odd," Arthur said.

"So will you have Harry as your best man, Ron?" Mrs. Weasley asked, as though nothing strange had happened.

"Of course."

"Well, you haven't asked him yet," Hermione pointed out.

"Well if he says no then I don't know, I might have to ask one of my brothers… you know, George probably won't come to the wedding," Ron said.

"Let's not talk about that now," Mrs. Weasley said softly, glancing to Mr. Weasley.

Ginny ran back down the steps then and tied her folded note to Harry's owl. Bilius took off as soon as the letter was secure.

It was quiet for a few minutes while Ron finished off Hermione's sandwich and Ginny stared out the open window.

"Ginny," Hermione said after a moment, seeming to catch her off-guard.

"Mm?" Ginny said, turning her gaze away from the window.

"Will you be my maid of honor?"

"What? Really?" Ginny asked, seeming to be genuinely surprised. "Of course!" Her face broke into a smile.

Hermione stood and hugged her.

"How lovely!" Mrs. Weasley said, standing and hugging the girls. Hermione caught Ron's eye as she hugged Mrs. Weasley. He gave her a look that said 'That was a bad idea'. Who else would she have picked though, Hermione had to wonder.

And then Hermione realized, if Ron picked Harry as a best man, and Ginny was the maid of honor, things could get awkward, but they'd both have to be at the wedding anyway, right? What was he worried about?

"I'm so happy you'll be a part of our family Hermione. Officially," Mrs. Weasley said, smiling so widely that her cheeks looked like they'd ache later.

"Me too," Hermione said. Ron stood and stepped toward her. He laid a hand on the small of her back. Hermione felt herself blush again. Ron had never touched her that way in front of anyone, let alone his parents. Like they were a couple.

"We best get going then. Hermione has to finish reading a book by next week and we'll have to plan a trip to Australia."

"Yes, you best Apparate multiple times to avoid splinching," Mrs. Weasley said, nodding, "Of course, Hermione knows that. Have a safe trip. We'll be in touch for the planning! I'm so excited!" Mrs. Weasley pulled Hermione into a hug again and then Ron.

"Maybe I'll see you later," Ginny said.

"Alright," Hermione said as they left. Ginny trailed after them and pulled Hermione aside in the garden. Ginny waved Ron on so he took a few more steps so he was out of ear shot. Once he reached the front gate, he stopped and watched the two girls talk. Mrs. Weasley had retreated back inside.

"Sorry, I know you're busy," Ginny said, glancing over at Ron and then back to Hermione. She was clutching both of Hermione's wrists in her hands.

"I'm not busy…"

"It's just, that note. Erm… Harry's not doing very well."

"I tried explaining to him before how you felt. He doesn't understand. He just thinks you messed him around," Hermione said quietly. "But look at this way, he wants to talk to you. That's a start."

"The letter was so… it wasn't like him. I don't think I should meet him."

"You already owled him back-"

"I know. I probably shouldn't have."

"You can't stand him up."

"But I'm so nervous around him still. I really only know, oh this sounds terrible, but I know more about him from reading things in the paper than from speaking to him…" Tears were in Ginny's eyes. "And he's so intense. I don't deserve the way he felt about me. He deserves someone more on his level."

"You _are_ on his level. You would have been there with us if you hadn't had the trace. Don't think it hadn't crossed my mind to kidnap you from Hogwarts if only to make Harry a little happier."

"You did not think that."

"I did. Anyway, if you keep on _not_ speaking to him like you are now, then you'll never know him better." Hermione shrugged. "And look, he's not going to wait around forever. Whether he's realized it or not, he's an extremely eligible bachelor."

"You're right."

"I'm not telling you anything you don't already know." Hermione turned her palms up and held Ginny's hands back. "Be brave. You're not a Weasley for nothing."

"Thanks Hermione." The two girls hugged. Then, Ron was at Hermione's side and was pulling her hand.

"Good luck!" Hermione said over her shoulder as she let Ron pull her toward the gate.

"Bye Ginny," Ron called while Ginny spoke.

"Thanks, have a safe trip!" she called back.

And once outside the gate, Ron and Hermione Apparated back to Grimmauld Place.


	24. The Leaky Cauldron

That evening after dinner, Harry left for the Leaky Cauldron. He hadn't told them he was going to meet Ginny, and yet before they left, Hermione had whispered into Harry's ear, "Please be kind to her. She's as nervous as you are."

And Ron had clapped Harry on the shoulder multiple times, seemingly out of nowhere.

Harry sat in the corner of the Leaky Cauldron furthest from the door, near the stairs. The place was fairly busy for a Thursday evening. While he waited, a woman, who was probably about forty or so, asked for his autograph. She had him sign her copy of _Hogwarts, A History_. He found it funny since he'd never actually read the thing. He didn't tell her that.

And then he found himself wondering if it wasn't because of what happened with Nagini and Bathilda Bagshot. He decided he'd rather not think too much about it.

When Ginny entered, he noticed immediately. Her red hair caught the light in the bar in a way that made it look like glowing fire embers. His heart ached just looking at her.

When she looked his way as she searched the crowd, he held up a hand and waved to her. She saw him and started weaving her way through the crowd between tables. As she passed between close tables and chairs, her skirt would catch on the furniture and cause the material to raise up and then flutter back down to her knees again. Harry couldn't help but watch her pale knees and thighs appear and disappear as she progressed toward him

After she sat down across from him, a waitress came to Ginny's side.

"What can I get you?"

"A butterbeer, please," Ginny said without looking away from Harry. The waitress walked away.

"So that letter I wrote to you," Harry started. He had a hard time meeting her gaze. Her face was hard and seemed to be full of light, like a blazing sun.

He didn't know what he wanted to say to her now. This meeting was beginning to seem like a bad idea. "Look, I don't expect you to explain anything to me. I just wanted to see you. I want to be your friend."

"Harry, I-"

"I've been sort of low lately and not making great decisions. But I want to change that. I want to move on in my life… I think if you and I are at least speaking to each other then that's somewhere to start."

"You want to move on?" Ginny repeated.

"I want to move on from this past year and all the fall out. I want to figure out what my life is going to be. We'll be having classes at Hogwarts together and I don't want us to have to hide from one another because you think I can't handle seeing you. Because I can."

"Oh." Ginny's butterbeer arrived and she immediately took a sip of it, seemingly for something to do. "Okay."

"Right." Harry tried to make himself smile but didn't quite manage it.

"Your letter was very moving." Her hair fell forward over her shoulder as she leaned toward Harry.

"Thanks." He couldn't take his gaze from her hair. He had to fight the urge to reach forward and touch it.

"When you mentioned Teddy and wanting to have children someday… you said you thought of me and wanted to talk… It made me think you wanted to get back together."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to make it sound like that." Harry's voice was flat. He glanced around the room, desperately hoping to find something to distract him. It was hard to have her this close. He hadn't expected it.

Someone else-an old man-walked up to their table and asked Harry to autograph his napkin. Harry tried not to grimace: he could feel Ginny staring at him.

"Harry," Ginny said softly once the old man had left. "I'd love to be friends with you."

"Great," Harry said, taking the last swig of his butterbeer.

"There is one thing you should probably know. I don't want you to find out some other way and have it ruin our friendship somehow."

It was quiet while Harry waited for Ginny to continue. When she said nothing for a full minute, Harry asked, "What?"

"Okay, promise you won't get angry?"

"Why would I need to promise such a thing?"

"Just-okay, while you were gone last fall, I kissed someone."

"I forgive you," Harry said automatically before he'd even had a chance to process it. "We weren't together. It doesn't matter."

"You don't even want to know who it was?" She was running the tips of her fingers down her butterbeer bottle, making little lines in the sweat.

"Ginny, I'm starting to get the feeling that you _want_ me to get angry and jealous."

"Of course I don't want that."

"Alright, who was it? Dean Thomas? No it couldn't have been him because he was on the run. He and I crossed paths at one point you know."

"I know-"

"Let's see then." Harry leaned back and looked up at the ceiling. He wanted to act like he didn't care but he really, he could feel the anger inexplicably bubbling up inside. Could she tell? "Was it Neville? It was Neville, wasn't it? Neville's a good guy. You know he and Luna have something going on?"

"No. Sorry, maybe I shouldn't have brought this up. There's no point in telling you this now. And you _are_ getting angry."

"I'm not _angry_."

"Alright, it was Seamus. He'd just gotten punished by the Carrows and I was helping him walk back to Gryffindor Tower from the Great Hall. His arm was slung around my shoulder and it happened. I'm sorry. It's been bothering me since it happened and I needed to tell you."

"So you told me just so you could unburden your own conscious. Do you realize that means I'd been pining after you for a whole year and you'd gotten over me in the matter of a couple of months? I suppose I should be happy. It's what I wanted you to do, really."

"I wasn't over you."

"Okay," Harry shrugged. He wished he'd never asked her here. He wished he was a first year in Snape's potions class again. He wished Hermione's parents were simultaneously drilling his teeth out of his head. Anywhere, anything but here and now.

"You know what he said when I kissed him? He said 'Harry deserves better than this, Gin' and walked away from me. I only did it because I was such a wreck over you already anyway. I thought if I kissed someone else I'd stop thinking so much about you. But it didn't work."

"You know what?" Harry stood and dropped a few galleons on the table. It was too much money but he didn't care. "It's fine. I'm glad we can be friends. I'll see you at school."

"Harry, wait," Ginny said quietly.

He pushed his way through to the door and Apparated back to Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place. As he opened the front door to his house, he heard a _crack_ behind him. Ginny had followed him.

"Please, Harry," Ginny called after him, hurrying behind him up the steps.

"Ginny…" He was going to tell her to "bugger off" but couldn't quite bring himself to say it. Instead, he turned to face her on his front doorstep. Suddenly, it felt like the end of a date in a muggle movie. "You shouldn't Apparate without passing the test. You could get splinched."

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry," she said, ignoring him, "I'm sorry I'm not what you need me to be and I kissed someone else while I wasn't even sure if you were dead or not and I'm sorry if you feel like you can't be my friend-"

"I kissed someone else too," Harry blurted out.

"Oh. Alright."

"I kissed her, this other girl, a bunch of times, and I loved it. It was fantastic." Harry's voice was shaking.

"Harry-" It was a warning.

"But I hate myself for it now. I wish it had never happened. She didn't want me."

Realization seemed to wipe the fear from Ginny's face almost immediately. "There was never a moment where I didn't want you, Harry. Don't you know that? I just… I didn't think things would happen so fast, I mean I wanted them to, but…"

Harry only stared at her for a moment. Did she think that he was talking about kissing her and not actually someone else, as he'd said? He went with it. "Then why did you finish things with me?"

"I just couldn't have any perspective with you living in the same house as me at the Burrow. I hadn't seen you for a year and suddenly my mom's asking me if she thinks we're going to get married, and how to do a Contraception Charm… Hermione was giving me pointers on what not to bring up with you because you might get angry or sad. Rita Skeeter came by while you were looking for flats with Ron one day wanting an interview. Even Ron was saying things to me, like warning me not to make fun of you. It was just too much. You should have heard what he said to me at the party. Told me to stay away from you and to go home, in not-so-nice words."

"So you broke up with me because of what everyone else was saying to you? Did you even think about mentioning any of this to me first?"

"I did think about it, but I thought maybe it'd be easier on you if I just backed off."

"No," Harry said, "Definitely not easier."

They stood watching each other for a moment. Harry didn't want to be rude and shut the door in her face but she also wasn't leaving.

"But the thing is," Ginny said finally, "You have gone out in the world and done something great. I haven't done anything yet. I'm not ready to settle down. I don't have anything to settle down from."

"You fought in the battle same as everyone else," Harry said, shaking his head.

"I know, but…" Ginny looked away, shrugging.

"Want to come in for a cuppa?" He asked just to be polite.

"Er, alright."

"Okay then." He tried to pretend he wasn't fazed. But then, he'd dealt with worse company before.

He led her down the hall and downstairs to the kitchen. Immediately, he put the kettle on and then took two cups and saucers down from the cabinet and set them on the table.

"Do you take anything in your tea?" Harry asked. He felt nervous. Why was she here? What was going on? Hadn't they _just_ been fighting?

"No, thank you."

"Mm. Me either. Makes things simple. Ron tends to put sugar and his, and Hermione will add honey occasionally if it's available."

"Right. I knew that actually."

Harry sat down across from her and folded his hands. "Did you know I take my tea plain too?"

"I did," Ginny said, grinning. He smiled back. Ginny slowly moved her hand forward and touched Harry's folded hands. His nervousness was not helped by this gesture, which he knew was probably only one of friendship.

He had a choice: he could turn his hand over and hold hers. (And then what would that mean? Would they be back together? Just friends holding hands?) Or he could pull his hands away.

He stared down at her pale white hand, dotted with tiny freckles, and he turned his hand over and held hers. He didn't look up at her face, just down at her hand.

Her palm was warm and familiar. And completely unlike Hermione's. She had callouses on the palms of her hands. From riding broomsticks?

Harry couldn't remember the last time he'd ridden a broomstick.

Just then, the kettle started screaming and Ginny pulled her hand away. Harry hopped up from his chair and brought the tea kettle to the table.

As he poured the cups though, Ginny stood.

"Harry?"

"Yeah?" he glanced up from his work. She looked behind herself toward the doorway and for a second he thought she was going to leave. He was surprised that he felt disappointed.

"Um…" she glanced behind herself again.

"What is it?" Harry felt himself go on-guard. He set down the kettle and drew his wand from his pocket. "Did you hear something?"

She shook her head. Then, she stepped forward and closed the gap between the two of them. But she didn't touch him.

"Do you want me to go?" she asked quietly. He shook his head.

Harry reflexively turned toward her so he faced her fully. Gently, he trailed his hand up her arm and back down again. He hadn't meant to touch her but it was as though his hand was satisfying an itch.

Checking her reaction to his touch, he felt himself wake up inside. She'd wanted him to touch her.

Slowly, he trailed his hand down her hair. He watched as she closed her eyes.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come in. I'll see myself out," Ginny said, stepping away, then turning and hurrying back up the stairs. Distantly a moment later, Harry heard the front door open and close.

"G'night," Harry said to no one.


	25. Sack

A few days later, Harry was true to his word and had another party. This time, just with a few of the old members of the DA. George and Angelina were impossible to reach. However, the Patils were back from visiting relatives in India and they came along with Dean, Seamus, Ginny, Luna and Neville. Ron and Hermione set up a sort of bar in the corner of the parlor while Harry tried to clean a bit. Really, it seemed like no matter how much a person cleaned Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place though, it'd never be clean.

They started out by sitting around and talking and sipping drinks. Meanwhile, Luna conjured butterflies and fireflies to fly around the room. It didn't take long for the boys to break off from the girls and head down to the kitchen—Seamus and Ron were hungry.

"So, how was India?" Hermione asked Parvati. They were sitting together on a smaller sofa off to the side of the room while Luna danced to the music amongst her flying bugs. Ginny and Padma talked a few feet away.

"It was nice. Same thing every year," Parvati shrugged. She was watching Luna dance. It was hard not to—she was trying to catch her butterflies as she moved. They didn't want to be caught. "Hey, is Harry with Ginny again?"

"No, I think they've decided to be friends," Hermione said with a question in her voice.

"Really?" Parvati said, her jewelry jingling a little as her gaze found Hermione again. "That's interesting. I always thought they'd get back together."

"They may still."

"Mm. You know," Parvati said, leaning toward Hermione, "I always had a thing for Harry."

"Really?" Hermione tried to sound more interested in this than she was.

"Why do you think I went to the Yule Ball with him in fourth year?"

"I thought he put you off when he was totally rude to you the whole time though?"

"Well," Parvati shrugged and her jewelry jangled again. "He was only fourteen then. A lot has changed."

"Well, that's true."

"Speaking of, congratulations by the way on getting engaged. I always knew Ron had a thing for you. The way he always looked at you."

"Thank you…"

* * *

"So I think we ought to do another drinking game, just us blokes," Seamus said.

"I'm not playing that 'Never Have I Ever' again," Harry said immediately.

"Alright, fine, not that one," Seamus said, "No, what we should play is Beer Pong."

"That's just a regular muggle game," Dean said.

"So what? What's wrong with a muggle game?"

"How about let's play Sack," said Dean.

Seamus immediately conjured paper bag and pointed his wand into each, muttering under his breath.

"Sorry, what's 'Sack'?" Ron asked, watching Seamus.

"You pick a strip of paper from the bag. You have to do what's written on the paper or take the consequence," Dean explained. "If you don't follow the dare exactly, huge ugly boils will sprout all over your face and body until you do the consequence or the dare."

"Oh, you know I saw a bottle of Horasinthe somewhere in one of these cabinets," Seamus said, grinning wickedly. He paced down the kitchen and opened a few of the cabinets as he spoke. "The consequence will be that you have to do a shot if you don't do your Sack." Seamus found the bottle of Horasinthe and wiggled it.

"If it's been sitting for years, I don't know how safe that'd be," Neville said, shaking his head, "I wouldn't want anyone ending up dead."

"Ah, Horasinthe won't kill you," Seamus said, "It just makes you hallucinate."

"No, it definitely _can_ kill you. It's made from the Moldovan Horasco plant. It's pretty strong stuff and if it sits it can become concentrated," Neville said, raising his eyebrows. "Though, there is a spell to do to test it… let me think…"

"Got the bag ready?" Dean asked Seamus. Seamus nodded as Neville did the spell to the Horasinthe.

"Well," Neville said, shrugging, "It seems safe. It didn't turn green…"

"Horasinthe it is, then," said Seamus.

* * *

Upstairs in the parlor, there were tens of butterflies and fireflies. Also, it appeared that Luna had also conjured some strange pink and purple glowing flowers. They were sitting on the mantle, on the piano, and floating overhead all over the room. The candles had all been extinguished. Also, there was now Weird Sisters music playing—this last was Ginny's doing.

"I wonder what's taking them so long?" Padma said to Ginny.

"I'm surprised there's even any food down there, what with Ron living here. If they're not back soon, maybe we'll go down and make sure they haven't poisoned themselves on molded cheese or something. Just in case."

Padma laughed.

* * *

"Are we sure we don't want to involve the girls?" Ron said as they all sat down at the kitchen table around the paper sack. "Might make things a bit more interesting."

"Nah, Sack can be sort of dangerous," Seamus said.

"Dangerous how exactly?" Harry asked.

"Not scared are you, Harry?" Seamus said.

"Don't be thick," Dean said to Seamus.

"I'm just not keen on unnecessary risk," Harry shrugged.

"Since when?" Ron laughed.

"Right, I'll go first," Seamus said. He picked a strip of paper from the first bag. "Run naked," he said, "around this house for two minutes."

"Damn, Seamus, no one wants to see you naked," Dean said shaking his head. Seamus had already stood and was taking off his clothes.

"Then avert your eyes, mate. I didn't make it up." He was already mostly naked. "Who's timing this?"

Neville shook back his sleeve and revealed his wizard's watch. "I'll start timing when you start running."

"Right, bye!" Seamus said, smiling and he ran upstairs, pulling his pants off as he did.

"Should someone follow—" Neville started but then the girls all screamed. The boys laughed.

They listened as he thudded through the house. Hermione yelled something at Seamus and then he came thudding back down the stairs.

"That's two minutes now," Neville announced as Seamus reached the table again and started pulling his clothes back on.

"Right," Seamus said, buckling his belt, "Shall we go in a circle then?"

A few of the boys shrugged or nodded.

"Clockwise? Am I next?" Neville said.

"Yeah, you go," said Dean who would have been next if counterclockwise.

"Right," said Neville. He reached into the bag. "Do a strip tease for Mrs. Black's portrait for one minute."

"Seamus, do these all involve nudity of some sort?" Harry asked.

"Possibly. I don't know. That spell you do on the paper sack makes up possibilities based on the circumstances and people playing. Pretty wicked, huh?"

"Yes, wicked," Harry said flatly.

"How will anyone know that I'm even doing it?" Neville said as he stood.

"Right, should we send someone to watch?" Seamus wondered aloud.

"I suspect Mrs. Black will let us know when he's started," Ron said. Neville left.

* * *

"Going to use the loo, be back in a tick," Ginny said to Padma. She started upstairs and heard someone ahead of her. Looking up, she saw Neville reaching the landing of the first flight of stairs. She continued up, assuming that she'd simply have to wait for Neville to use the toilet first.

But then, as Ginny reached the first floor landing, she saw that Neville had drawn open the hangings to Mrs. Blacks portrait. As she'd just witnessed Seamus steak through the house, she immediately knew that Neville was about to do something at best humorous, and at worst mildly odd. She hung back in the shadows and waited a moment. Neville was about two metres away but didn't seem to have noticed her.

"Right," Neville said to the painting. Mrs. Black's portrait eyed him beadily. He started to sway his hips.

"What foul mockery is this—" started Mrs. Black. Neville reached for the hem of his shirt. Ginny pressed her fingers against her mouth to keep from laughing aloud.

* * *

Downstairs, the boys listened as Mrs. Black began screeching and wailing about besmirching this most ancient and noble house. A short moment passed before Mrs. Black was muffled, most likely by the drapes.

Neville ran down the steps with his shirt in his hand and his trousers unbuttoned.

"How'd it go?" Ron said, laughing as Neville buttoned his trousers again.

"That was so embarrassing," Neville said, shaking his head. He pulled his shirt back on. "Ginny had followed me up and saw me. She said she had to go to the loo…" Neville's cheeks were crimson. "Come on, Harry, your turn."

"Fine," Harry said, shrugging. What was the worst that could happen? "Drink a swig of Veritaserum and answer any question for three minutes."

"Oh that's boring," Ron said immediately.

"Yeah," Harry said, "I agree."

"You could pull another one," Neville offered.

"No he can't," Seamus said, "the sack only lets you have one until you've had the consequence."

"I'm not drinking Veritaserum," Harry said, "Especially stuff that's been sitting around in a pantry here."

"Well, it doesn't go bad as far as I know," Neville said slowly. Harry glanced around, thinking fast. He thought he should just drink the Horasinthe, but would that be too obvious that he was hiding something? Of course, if he drank the Veritaserum, then it would be completely obvious that he'd been hiding something, assuming that they asked the right questions.

"Well, Harry?" Dean said. "Pick your poison then."

"Ha-ha," Ron said sarcastically.

"Er, Horasinthe," Harry said finally.

"Really?" Seamus said, surprised. "I thought famous Harry Potter was an open book."

"He probably doesn't want to answer questions about Ginny in front of Ron," Neville said. Dean looked away as though he hadn't heard this.

"I wouldn't have asked," Ron said.

"I might have," Seamus said grinning. Harry had an overwhelming urge to punch Seamus, who was pouring a shot of Horasinthe for him.

Harry gazed at the murky-white liquid, lifted it in a sort of cheers-salute to the others and then downed it. It tasted like milk that had gone bad and burned his stomach.

His vision blurred for a moment and then came back into focus, though he hadn't taken his glasses off.

Ron was next. "Take the hand of your favorite person in this house and Apparate to Big Ben and come back."

Everyone watched Ron for a moment. "But," he said, "but… I don't think I should Apparate when I've been drinking."

Harry suspected that Ron wasn't sure whether he was supposed to take Hermione or him along. He was relieved that no one else seemed to notice this as a possible problem.

"Ah, you have to drink a shot of Horasinthe then, too," Seamus said.

"Fine."

Everyone watched as he drank it.

"See? I'm fine," Ron said, gritting his teeth.

"How's it?" Dean asked, glancing between Harry and Ron.

"It's kind of strong," Ron said, the bitterness still evident on his face. But then he stood up. "I want to fly."

"You don't have a broomstick," Harry said, standing up, too. Ron then lunged to the ground and did a handstand.

"I can walk on my hands, look!" He did. He walked the length of the room on his hands and then walked back to the group on his hands. Harry felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

"That'll be the Horasinthe kicking in," said Dean unnecessarily.

"I really think I can fly without a broomstick, Harry," Ron said as he sat cross-legged on the floor.

"That doesn't sound like a good idea."

"Why won't you let me?"

"Let's finish our game first, shall we?"

"Oh, yeah. Alright."

"I wonder why Harry isn't acting strangely," Seamus said.

"Everyone reacts differently to it," Neville said.

"It's time to fly," Ron proclaimed from behind Harry and stood and hurried up the steps. Harry followed Ron up the steps, as did (by the sound of it) the rest of the boys.

At the top of the steps, Harry saw Padma and Ginny standing in the doorway to the parlor.

"Excuse me," Harry said loudly. He felt like he had just drank Liquid Luck and was under the Cruciatus Curse simultaneously. "I have an announcement to make," Harry said. He moved to the middle of the darkened parlor, next to Luna. A butterfly landed on his shoulder. "No, I don't. Yes, I do. No I don't."

"What's wrong with him?" Ginny asked.

Harry wanted to explain but instead he said, "I need to tell you that—no I'm not going to say that out loud." It was as though his brain had a mind of his own and every secret wanted to come flooding out of him.

"He's fighting the Horasinthe he just drank," Neville explained to the girls. They all looked to Neville with varying degrees of fear and surprise.

"I don't have time for this. I need to fly," Ron announced and left the room. Harry made himself try to follow but it was as though his feet were trying to wade through water. He pushed himself with every step.

"Ron, what do you mean by that? Fly? Whose broomstick—"

"No broomstick, 'Mione. Don't need one."

"What? No. That doesn't make sense."

Ron kept walking even though Hermione was trying to stop him by grabbing and dragging his arm. He quickly broke free of her. "Please don't. You could break your neck," Hermione said, running after him. She pulled her wand out from her pocket. Everyone else followed behind her. Ron was walking determinedly out the front door and down the steps.

Out in the street, where Death Eaters had once stood watching this house, Ron stood and flapped his arms.

"Not enough wind," he said glancing around him. Seamus laughed. Harry finally made his way outside behind everyone else.

"Are you looking for feathers to help you fly, Ron?" Luna asked.

"Yes, of course I am, Luna," Ron said, shaking his head. "But there aren't any. I need to get somewhere up high. Then I'll have enough wind."

"Oh Merlin," Ginny said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Ron, no!" Hermione said at the same time. Sparks shot from her wand. Ron was already hurrying back toward the house and attempting to climb up the gutter. He was making surprisingly good success.

"No, if I petrify him now, he'll fall… You shouldn't petrify someone on Horasinthe…" Hermione said to herself, she was looking down at the pavement as though she was trying to read words written there. She held her wand aloft, pointed at Ron.

"Could I have your attention please?" Harry asked aloud. "There's something I need to say. No there isn't." Parvati and Padma were both standing with their mouths agape.

"We'll have the muggle police on us if we're not careful," Dean said.

"We are going to toss that stupid alcohol out," Hermione said. She still had her wand pointed at Ron. Harry supposed it was in case he fell.

Ron had made it to the second story windows.

"Ron, get down, you stupid prat," Ginny called, though it was clearly useless.

"Ginny!" Harry yelled. She startled.

"Harry, keep fighting it," Ginny said, shaking her head.

"Are there any spells you can think of that we can do now? As a sort of preventative measure?" Hermione muttered.

"You know," Neville said, standing with his hands on his hips as he gazed up at Ron, who was continuing to climb up the third story drain pipe, "My family punted me out the window when I was just a baby to see if I'd bounce. It's an old test to see if a child is a witch or wizard. I bounced. Maybe he would too."

"From three stories?" Padma asked.

"I'll do _arresto momentum_ ," Hermione said.

"He's going to be fine," said Seamus, "Look at the bloke! He's having the time of his life."

Ron had reached the roof. He was four stories up.

"Don't do it, Ron!" Hermione called. Her eyes were shining with tears.

Harry was rethinking his friendship with Seamus… "Seamus you're a prat!" Harry spat.

"I can fly!" Ron shouted and then jumped from the roof.

He seemed to fall in slow motion for a second and then seemed to sort of float like a cloud to the ground.

"Who was doing that?" Ginny asked after Ron safely reached the street again. Ron lay down on his back and looked up at the sky with his hands tucked behind his head.

"I didn't," said Harry. Everyone else shook their heads.

"The alcohol uses the magic you already have to make you do things that you wouldn't normally otherwise do. It makes you bolder but also stronger. He saved himself," Hermione explained. "I'm just surprised that… well I suppose I shouldn't be surprised…"

"Interesting," Ginny said, raising an eyebrow.

"Well I think I've had enough fun for one night," Padma said. "G'night. See you at school." She and Parvati Disapparated.

"Yeah, thanks for having me, Harry, but I think I'll turn in as well," said Dean. He too Disapparated.

"Right. Well," Seamus said, smiling, "Before Hermione decides to hex me, I'll be off as well. G'night all." And with that he Disapparated as well.

Everyone else started back inside.

"Wait! Ginny! There's something I need to tell you!" Harry yelled. And then, "No there isn't!"

Ginny turned to face him. "I think I'm going to head home too, actually. For your sake Harry." She Disapparated.

With that, Luna and Neville headed off to a pub and the party was over. Once she magically bound Ron and magically gagged Harry, Hermione led them back into Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place.

After an hour in the kitchen with Hermione drinking tea and staring at the two of them, the alcohol seemed to have worn off: Harry had stopped trying to shout at her and Ron had stopped struggling against his bindings.

They had a quiet cup of tea, apologized to Hermione and then went to bed.


	26. The Craft of the Pensieve

In the week that followed the party at Number Twelve, Harry and Ron spent most days around loafing around the Leaky Cauldron, and Diagon Alley. Sometimes Hermione would come, but usually she would just stay at Number Twelve and read her book about Pensieves. Because Harry was avoiding Ginny at all costs, they didn't go by the Burrow at all. The thought of Ginny leaving the party so that Harry wouldn't say something to her that she obviously didn't want to hear… it was too embarrassing. What would the point be to making Ginny see him again?

The week had passed quickly. Both Harry and Ron leisurely bought their school supplies and new robes during that week, and also a fair number of butterbeers along the way.

After that week, Hermione found herself in Diagon Alley again. Ollivander had owled her the day before. The stone for the Pensieve was ready.

"Miss Granger, hello again," said Ollivander. He had been waiting in a chair behind the front display case.

"Hello, Mr. Ollivander. I received your owl," said Hermione unnecessarily. She was nervous. "I read the whole book twice this past week. I think I'm ready."

"Good. I've hewn the stone into shape and polished it. The manual labor at least is done." Ollivander magically lifted the stone from behind the display case. Hermione was surprised how shiny it was. It looked like metal.

"They can be made with any solid stone, but if it has a metallic hue it can make some memories more colorful and vibrant. This is obsidian. It's quite beautiful when magically polished, don't you agree?" Ollivander said, gazing down at the reflective plate of metallic-looking stone.

"Yes, very," Hermione said. Her mouth was dry. She stepped forward and slid her wand from her pocket.

"Ten and three-quarters… Vine wood and dragon heartstring core."

"Yes." Hermione instantly was reliving when her wand chose her, the first time she'd been in this shop. She had walked into Ollivander's, looked around at the hundreds of boxes, and her wand's box has flown from its spot high up in the shelves down to the display case before her. The box had opened and the wand had flown into her hand and had emitted a warm glow.

Ollivander seemed to have recalled the same memory because he said, "You really were destined for a greater purpose. That wand knew it even when you were just a little girl." He smiled wider than she'd seen him ever smile.

"Thank you," Hermione said, feeling herself blush.

"Well, shall we?" Ollivander said, still smiling.

"Alright then." Hermione stepped toward the metallic stone sort of platter. She was thinking hard about what she'd read. "I think I know what to do… Please just tell me if I'm doing something wrong."

"Of course," Ollivander said, nodding once "So you've chosen your memories?"

"Yes, I have."

"And you know that once—"

"Once I give them, I can never have them back. I know. This is worth it. If it means getting my parents to know me again."

"Ah," Ollivander said, pausing for a moment. "I see."

Hermione nodded at Ollivander and then turned her attention back to the stone. A hush fell over the shop as she laid her wand on the stone. It was pointed straight out ahead of her. Then, she laid her hands flat on the cool stone on either side of her wand, closed her eyes, and thought of the memories she'd chosen.

The first memory: elation. In her mind, she re-lived receiving her wand once more. The warmth of the wand in her hand for the first time. That feeling of belonging together. Of pure joy at knowing that she was going to belong with this kind little strip of wood. That she finally found why she always felt so different than the other girls at school…

She didn't realize it but a smile had spread on her face. Ollivander, who was watching her closely, smiled at her happiness.

And then the memory was torn from her. She felt like someone had just punched her in the chest.

She did not open her eyes though.

Then, it was easy to think of one of her lowest, unhappiest moments. She'd stood in the rain when Ron Disapparated away. He'd left Harry when things were already so desperate. He'd left _her_.

She didn't notice when the tears rolled down her cheeks as she let the memory bleed hotly into the stone. Her chest felt like someone had stabbed her, the pain of the punch was nothing to this.

"The worst is over, now, Miss Granger," Ollivander said quietly. She was in so much pain that he sounded distant, like she was hearing his voice through a long underground tunnel. She kept her eyes pressed shut, just as she knew she had to. Then, she thought of the third memory.

Last: a dream. The dream that she'd had two nights ago. An inexplicable one about Harry. Harry pushing the straps of her dress from her shoulders. The feel of his fingers as they glided up the skin of her neck and pushed her hair back from her face. The feel of his lips on hers. The dream had been so real. But then the dream had morphed and they were married. She and Harry were at St. Mungo's and she was lying in a hospital bed having just given birth to their son. They were each other's only family in the whole world. It was happy and sad at the same time. But thankfully it was only just a dream.

Everywhere that Dream-Harry had touched her, in real life her skin felt like it was burning. It felt as though someone had rubbed a lit match over her shoulders, up the sides of her neck and to her face and lips. She gritted her teeth, enduring the pain.

She felt like someone was squeezing her brain. It hurt so much that she could barely stand up. Through the fog of pain, she remembered that she was done and lifted her hands from the obsidian.

Instantly, all three memories she'd given to the stone were gone. They'd been torn from the fabric of her being. They lived inside the stone forever now.

She would still know that her wand chose her, but she'd never be able to recall the strength of the magical bond they'd had that very first moment.

She'd never remember the dream she'd had about Harry but it was just as well. She didn't know where it had come from. After all, she'd never thought of Harry that way (that she knew of) anyway.

And she'd never remember standing in the rain in the dark forest and how she felt after Ron left. Though, she would still know that he'd left because she remembered the time while he was gone and when he came back. She thought she'd be better off without such an emotionally hurtful memory.

"You've done it," said Ollivander. He'd pushed a chair around to Hermione and gestured for her to sit down.

"This feels very strange," she said rubbing her chest. The headache was already only a dull ache, but her chest still hurt quite badly. The burning feeling along her neck only hurt if she touched her skin like a superficial sunburn.

"It'll heal with time," said Ollivander. He conjured a glass of what looked like water. "Here. Drink this."

She took the glass from where it floated before her and took a sip. "What is this?"

"Just a nerve tonic. Helps your body calm down after the stress of what you just went through."

She wished Ollivander would keep talking. She liked the calming sound of his voice.

"Thank you, Mr. Ollivander."

"You're welcome, Miss Granger. I would feel remiss if I did not draw attention to the fact that you did all the hard work."

"Well, I couldn't have done it without you."

"The pleasure is all mine," he said, bowing his head to her.

Once she drank a few more sips of her tonic, she was feeling a little better. Ollivander wrapped the Pensieve in a blue velvet cloth and then wrapped it all again in brown paper and string.

Once he was finished, she lifted her new Pensieve. She was pleasantly surprised by the light weight of it. She said goodbye to Ollivander and left his shop.

Hermione felt awkward carrying such an important magical object down the street, especially since she felt like she was getting over a bad illness. Her legs ached as though she'd just run five kilometres.

As she walked, she worried over how she'd put so much of herself into this thing. Because it had taken hardly any time, she almost felt as though it might have not actually happened. And now someone could bump into her accidentally and cause her to drop it. Or someone could run up to her and take it. Was this what having a Horcrux felt like?

She pushed the thought from her mind the instant she thought it. This was not a part of her soul. It was just a few memories.

But then she thought, what are we if not all of our memories?

As she thought this, she came nearer to the shop where she'd had her palm read only the week before. Hermione noted that the place was called _Second Sight_ and thought it was funny that she was carrying a Pensieve into the place _._ She told herself she'd only stop in for a moment and then go home. It wouldn't take long. She just wanted to sit down for a minute and rest.

"You're back," came the woman's misty voice from the back of the shop.

"Yes," Hermione said quietly. The smell of incense was heavy in the air. The whole place had a smokiness about it. It made it seem hot in here despite the mild summer day outside. A wave of nausea flooded over Hermione but then left her just as quickly as it had come on.

The woman was jingling softly as she walked. Hermione wondered if it was an ankle bracelet causing the noise.

"Come to the table, child," she said. Once she reached Hermione, she didn't look at her but rather led her by gently nudging Hermione's shoulder.

"Cards first," the woman said.

"What's your name?" Hermione asked. She noticed that, just as last time, there were no other customers.

"Madam Malkin, and no I do not own the robes shop. That is my dear sister."

"Oh, ha, right. Okay," Hermione said. The woman was laying her cards out in her 'H' pattern. "You know, the strangest thing…" Hermione tried to stifle a yawn. Her head was throbbing, but she tried to ignore the pain. "I don't really remember what you told me last time. I just felt like, well this might sound silly, but I felt drawn back to here."

"Don't remember?" said Madam Malkin, "Don't be coy. You were obviously shaken when you left here last time."

Hermione shook her head. "I know, I just… things have been a little crazy lately… I honestly don't remember."

"Well, let's see here," Madam Malkin shook her head and looked down at the cards. "You have done a great deed. Illness hides in your heart. Your heart is broken. Strange." She shrugged. "You have forgotten one lover and chosen the other." The woman looked up from the cards for a moment and then back down, "Well, you're a strong one. Most people wouldn't be able to decide so quickly."

"Decide what?"

"Between two lovers. You really did forget, didn't you?"

Hermione only stared at her.

"You're not having me on? Would you like my memory of your visit to look at in your Pensieve if you don't believe me?"

"How'd you know this was a Pensieve?"

Madam Malkin pulled out her wand and was raising it to her temple.

"No, no, it's alright. I believe you. I won't take your memory. Thank you, though."

Madam Malkin lowered her wand again and slid it back into the deep pocket of her robe. "Let's continue, then. You wish to travel great distances to attempt to forge a friendship of sorts. The trip will not go as you plan, but you will find beauty and happiness on your journey. When you come back, you will uncover a secret and have to make a choice."

"My trip to Australia to see my parents?"

"Perhaps… You will have a career or a position of sorts in a powerful place and make decisions that will change the world."

"Mm."

"You seek knowledge…" Madam Malkin stared at the cards. Then, suddenly, she stood and her robe billowed behind her as she rushed to a bookshelf on the opposite side of the room. When she reached the wall, a book jumped off the shelf and into her hands. She strode back to the table and sat back down. "Here," she said, "The book you seek."

Hermione looked down at the book and stifled a laugh. It was _My Eyes and How to See Past Them_ by none other than Sybill Trelawney.

"It explains about the Twelve Fates and also about Tarot. I will sell you these cards for three galleons once we are finished."

"Er… okay."

"Your future is different than the last time I read these cards. You have many choices to make. You are cherished and greatly admired." Madam Malkin looked down at her cards for a long moment. Hermione felt exhausted.

Madam Malkin shook her head again and then cleaned the cards up into a neat little stack.

Hermione pulled seven galleons out of her pocket and laid them down on the table. Then, she picked up the book and the stack of cards. "Thank you, Madam."

"Anytime, dearie." They both stood. "And anytime your Harry Potter wants to get his cards read, please send him my way."

"He's not _my_ Harry Potter," Hermione said. She was too tired to realize that Madam Malkin shouldn't have known that Hermione was friends with him.

Madam Malkin was walking her to the door.

"Oh. Oh, I see. That's too bad. But… I suppose… yes. I see."

"Well, goodbye."

"Goodbye for now."


	27. Adelaide

There were only a few days left before the start of school, but Hermione wanted to try the Pensieve on her parents as soon as possible. The three ate an early supper together and then Hermione and Ron quickly packed. Harry chose to stay behind. He didn't want to feel like their third wheel. He didn't tell them that.

Hermione and Ron had to Apparate three times for safety. Once to Cairo, Egypt, and then again to Dhaka, Bangladesh, and then finally to Adelaide, Australia.

"So since we left home at about six in the evening," Hermione said as she led Ron off the road they'd Apparated to and into a sparse brush by a river, "it's about four in the morning here."

"Merlin, I hadn't thought about the time difference. We should have left in the morning maybe."

"No, we won't be here long enough for it to matter, I hope." Hermione reached into her old beaded bag and started yanking. "School starts in three days, after all." Soon, she produced the tent and magically set it up with a few waves of her wand. She then cast spells to repel muggles and to make the tent invisible to them. Once she was done, she spoke again. "So we'll have a nap until it's daytime and then pop in to see my parents."

"Alright," Ron said, following her into the tent. He had an odd sense of de ja vu. The smell of the tent was too familiar. He felt nervous.

Hermione set her bag down on the table and then made her way to a cot, pulling her hairband out of her hair as she did. Her hair seemed to spring out in all directions.

"Hermione," Ron said from across the room.

"Hm?" She didn't turn to face him. Ron walked to up to her and took her hand in his. She looked up at him.

"I'm not tired," he said.

"Oh, do you want me to do the charm so you can sleep? It's quite simple, you know." She still had her wand in her hand and held it up at the ready.

"No thanks," he said, shaking his head.

"Oh, alright. Well, if you change your mind. The sun will be up soon, it'll make it harder to sleep-"

Ron cut off her words by kissing her. Then, he straightened again, smiling at her. "I'm glad I'm here with you, 'Mione." Then, he stepped past her. He laid down on the cot she'd been headed towards.

She stood there looking down at him for a moment before she slid next to him on the little bed. As he tucked his arm around her, she laid her head on his shoulder and cozied next to him.

"You don't know how many times I wanted to do this with you last year," Ron whispered to her.

"Oh, I had thought that I was the only one… though I don't know if it would have made sleeping any easier."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well," Hermione said sleepily, "I think I would have gotten a tad distracted from all that Horcrux business, which would have been bad. Not to mention, we probably would have woken Harry."

"Ah, we could have let him join in. It might have cheered him up a bit," Ron said. Hermione laughed and scrunched her nose.

"You know, I've always known that Harry was a boy…"

"Me too, oddly enough-"

"But he never really seemed like one to me."

"Don't tell him that. It'll hurt his ego."

"You know what I mean though, don't you? I kind of even felt sort of motherly toward him over the years."

"That's weird."

"I know. But, I don't know, I felt like that's what he needed from me." She shrugged. "When you wanted me to abandon him with you, my only thought was that I needed to protect Harry and I couldn't believe that you couldn't see that. I knew you thought I was choosing him over you somehow."

"No. Once I took the locket off, I knew. I felt the same way, really. Maybe not fatherly, but definitely like a brother. Though I've never fought with any of my brothers the way that I fought with him before."

It was quiet again and Hermione laid her head down on his shoulder once more. She thought about telling him that she'd lost the memory of him Disapparating, but she couldn't get the words to form on her lips.

"I never felt like you needed me that way," Hermione said instead.

"To be my mother? No, thanks, I've got one of those already. She's quite enough mother to be having nosing into your life."

"Mm." Hermione nodded her head.

"Oh, Hermione, we'll fix what was done with your parents. Don't worry," Ron said, wrapping his other arm over her so he was hugging her against himself.

She tilted her head up and kissed him lightly. "I can't help but feel like we're wasting time down here. I mentioned the idea to them before they left-that I could show them memories of us with magic. They weren't interested. They looked at me like I was… like a foolish little girl. Maybe I am foolish for coming down here. I don't _need_ my parents anymore. They live in a different world than me. It's better for them this way."

"Well, first of all, you're anything but foolish," Ron said. He pulled her closer against his chest. Hermione felt like she was in a safe cocoon. It was helping the pain in her chest, too. "Second, you love your parents, whether they're muggles or not. You deserve to have them back. It's because of you that they're alive at all."

Hermione shrugged again and looked down at her right hand that was intertwined with his left hand.

"And, I'd like for our kids to know their grandparents someday," he whispered.

Hermione glanced up from their hands.

"Yes, I've been meaning to talk to you about that…" she said quietly, "I don't want children yet. Not for a few years at least, until we're more established."

"Well, I wasn't saying we'd start today. We still have Hogwarts for another year."

"Right."

"Right."

"But the thing is, if we're going to keep on, well, you know," Hermione said, "we should really talk about if I should be visiting a doctor for pills or if condoms-"

"What? What are condoms?"

"You have to be joking. You don't know—"

"Oh, you mean those muggle things that blokes put on... Hold on, you didn't do the Contraceptive Charm after last night?"

"Goodness, there's a Contraceptive Charm? Why didn't I think of that?"

"You could already be pregnant."

"Merlin, I _am_ foolish! How could I not know about that?"

"I'll have to get you a book of household spells. They don't really teach you many practical things in school. It's not your fault…"

"I'm so sorry, Ron!" Hermione said, bursting into tears. She was too tired and ill to stop herself.

"Hey, you're the one that said you didn't want kids right away. I never said any such thing. And I'm not going anywhere."

"What will your parents say? What would Harry say?" she said, sniffing.

"You get your period next week, right? We'll just have to see then," Ron said, running his hand over her hair.

"How do you know when I get my period?" Hermione said, pulling away so she could look at his face again.

"I've spent nearly every day with you since you were eleven, and after last year…"

"Right, sorry."

Ron laughed.

Hermione tucked her hands against her chest. "Ah!"

"It's fine Hermione, really—"

"No, my heart. It's my chest. My heart hurts." Ron sat up straighter, bumping his head on the top bunk. He ignored his own pain. "What? What's wrong? I don't know where the closest hospital is to here—" He got up and stood before her.

"No, no… I need a Calming Draught is all. It's from the… from making the Pensieve. It's going to take a while to heal."

"The Pensieve hurts you when you make it? Why didn't you tell me you weren't feeling well?" His eyes were wide. She wished he'd calm down. "Tell me what to do." He strode over to the table and picked up her bag as he pulled his wand from his pocket. Then, he turned and faced her once more.

"No, it's alright actually. The pain is going away for now, I think."

"Do you have any Calming Draught in here?" He held up her little beaded bag. She nodded and so he reached in and pulled out a thermos. After he laid the bag down on the table again, he brought the thermos to her and gave it to her. Once she drank some, he sat back down next to her.

"Why didn't you tell me? You seemed fine earlier. You shouldn't have Apparated all this way if you're sick."

"Ollivander had given me a tonic to drink that made me feel better." Hermione looked up at Ron and gave him a short kiss. "I'll be fine, really. I'm already feeling better."

Once she drank more of the calming draught, she did do a sleeping charm on Ron (without him knowing it as his eyes were closed and she did it wordlessly). They both soon fell asleep.


	28. Ginger Snaps

Harry didn't sleep well that night. First thing in the morning, Bilius woke Harry by gently nipping Harry's finger. The owl had a message.

Harry read:

 _Mr. Potter,_

 _Please meet with me at your first available convenience to attend to an urgent matter._

 _Thank you,_

 _Headmistress McGonagall_

Harry read it twice, thanked Bilius with an owl treat, and then quickly dressed. Before he'd eaten anything, he Apparated to the gate of Hogwarts.

Though Harry had known it to have been locked for years, the gate was open.

Walking up the lane to the school through the sparse trees, he couldn't help but look up at the castle. From here, it appeared to be intact. Normal, even. It certainly hadn't looked that way the last time he'd seen it.

After he passed by the lake, he made his way up to the front entrance. The huge front doors were shut but again, they weren't locked.

It was dead quiet in the school. Lost in thoughts of Ginny, he'd made his way up to Professor McGonagall's office before he knew it. He knocked. No one answered.

"Of course," Harry said to himself. He glanced around and then continued on up the steps. He had to go to Dumbledore's old office if he wanted to find Professor McGonagall.

He made his way there and was surprised to find that the gargoyle was standing at attention. No other place had been locked in the whole castle, it seemed.

"Sherbet lemon?" Harry tried. The gargoyle didn't move. "Lemon drop? Berty Bott's Every Flavor Beans? Oh, how about ginger snaps? She likes those I think."

To Harry's surprise, the gargoyle jumped aside. He rode the turning stairs up to the door of the Headmistress's office and waited.

"Enter," she called almost immediately.

Harry came in.

"That was quick," she said. "Sit down, Potter."

Harry did as she said. She sat down at Dumbledore's old desk, across from him.

"Well, you are right, I do like ginger snaps. Would you like one?"

"Yes, thanks. Skipped breakfast." Harry took a ginger snap from the proffered tin and took a bite.

"I believe you intend to come back to Hogwarts for your seventh year after all, just as Mr. Weasley wishes to do?"

"Yes, Professor," Harry said.

"Well, I don't know if you heard, but we have yet to find a Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor for this year."

"I had heard you were having trouble," Harry said.

"Well, as you will be at the school anyway, I have a proposition for you." She flicked her wand and a piece of parchment flew up from her desk and fluttered down into Harry's hands.

He read:

Mondays and Wednesdays:

Period 1,2- 7th year Charms with Professor Flitwick

3- Teach Gryffindor/Slytherin 1st year DADA

4- Teach Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff 1st year DADA

5- Teach Gr/Sl 2nd year DADA

6- lunch

7- Teach Ra/Hu 2nd year DADA

8- Independent study 7th year Herbology with Professor Longbottom

Tuesdays and Thursdays:

1- Teach Gr/Sl 3rd year DADA

2- Teach Ra/Hu 3rd year DADA

3- Teach Gr/Sl 4th year DADA

4- Teach Ra/Sl 4th year DADA

5- Independent study 7th year DADA with Professor Vector

6- lunch

7,8- 7th year Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall

Fridays:

Periods 1-4- Potions with Professor Slughorn

5-free period

6- lunch

7,8- office hours for 1-4 years DADA

Harry read it over three times before he looked up at Professor McGonagall again.

"So," Harry said finally, breaking the silence, "You want me to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts while studying for my N.E.W.T.s?"

"Yes. I believe you can handle it. This will fit in all your classes needed to qualify as an Auror. Professor Vector, in addition to her Arithmancy classes, will be teaching years five, six and seven Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"Right, so I'll be _taking_ Defense at the same time that I'm teaching it."

"You taught your fellow classmates in year five at the same time you were taking it. Also, I hope you recognize that you may have a difficult time coming back to school after having been gone for a year. Especially after doing what you did. You'll still be expected to follow the school rules. As a professor, you may find it easier to adjust to coming back. You will be seen as an adult in this school, not really as a student."

"Er… But do you think the students will respect me? I mean, I'll be taking classes. And independent study… I don't know if I-"

"I've already spoken to Professors Vector and Longbottom about this and they thought it would be fine. If the course load becomes too much, I would be willing to inquire to the Ministry to get you a time-turner. But really, I don't think you'll need one. You'll be fine. I have the utmost faith in you."

It was quiet for a moment. Harry didn't know what to say. "Thanks, Professor."

"Thankfully, you'll no longer have the distractions that you faced in previous years. I wouldn't want you to become bored. Idle minds-"

"Right." Harry looked down at the parchment in his hands again. Instead of trepidation, he suddenly felt a little excited. He thought of Dumbledore's Army and wondered if teaching younger students would be half as fun as the DA had been.

"Well, shall I take this as your acceptance of the position?"

"Er-"

"Of course you'll be compensated for the classes you teach. If you require any teaching materials in addition to the text, owl me with the specifics and I'll see what I can do. You have a yearly budget though of seventy-five galleons for anything you might need, which isn't much at all, so keep that in mind. Here are your professor's texts, Potter." McGonagall flicked her wand. Four text books floated from a bookshelf behind her into a stack next to Harry's head and hovered in mid-air.

"I'm sure you are familiar with the rules here at Hogwarts, but in case you need any refreshing, here-" She flicked her wand again and a pamphlet added itself to the stack of four textbooks. "That is a professor's manual for the rules and reprimands deemed appropriate. They've been revised a bit for this year, so you may want to look them over when you get the chance."

"Right, okay," Harry said. He folded the parchment with his schedule on it and shoved it in his pocket.

"I'll expect you to wear school robes to your Charms and Transfiguration classes, but all other times, you may dress as a professor would in professional wizard's attire."

"I think I'll just stick to school robes." Harry stood and _Wingardium Leviosa_ 'd the books and pamphlet next to him and guided them toward the door. He felt a little dizzy. He was a professor now? But still a student? Had this ever happened before?

He thought for a moment about how Voldemort had wanted to become the Defense professor at the same age but had been turned away.

"And Potter-" McGonagall called. Harry turned and faced her once more, though his books kept going and bumped into the door.

"Yes, Professor?"

"Thank you," she said. She held out her hand and Harry stepped forward and shook it. Then, guiding his professor's texts ahead of him with his wand, he left.


	29. Clock Hand

"Ron, Ron wake up," Hermione said softly. She shook him awake. "It's nearly eleven. We have to get going."

"Mm, where are we?" Ron asked. He rubbed his eyes with the back of one of his hands.

"Australia. My parents, remember?"

"Oh, right. It feels like it's three in the morning…"

"It's more like two back in England." She slid off of the cot and tied her puffy hair back with her hairband. Slowly, Ron sat up and squinted up at her.

"Isn't it Friday? Will they even be home?"

"Well, I'm not sure if they've started jobs up again yet. We'll just have to find out."

"Let's go for a walk by the river here first," Ron said. He stood and stretched. "I need to wake up."

Hermione pursed her lips, "Alright, maybe a short one." She grabbed the beaded bag from the table and made quick work of packing up the tent. Ron took her free hand and together they walked toward the edge of the river.

"How are you feeling?"

"A bit better. Headache is gone but my chest aches a little still."

Ron nodded solemnly.

"I think," Hermione said, breaking the silence between them, "if we follow this down far enough, we'll end up on the shore of the ocean."

"Lovely." They walked along the edge of the river. On the other side, a group of people were having a picnic. Ron looked over at them and they waved. He waved back.

"Do you know them?" Hermione asked, mildly amused.

"No," he said, grinning down at her. They walked along in quiet for a while longer. Ron spoke again, "Can you believe, after everything, that we made it out alive?"

"It is hard to believe. We were lucky."

"I thank God every day for you," Ron said. Pebbled crunched quietly under his feet. Hermione watched their feet as they walked. "I know I've never said it, not nearly enough, but you have to know, Hermione. You are everything to me. You're my best friend, the most beautiful, smartest person I know. I love you so much-if I'd lost you, it would have been like losing half of my own body."

"Ron… don't lay it on so thick or I'll have to assume-" But she stopped talking when she looked up at him. He stopped walking and grabbed her hand. She stopped and turned to face him.

"And," he said, kneeling down on the bank of the river. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small wooden box. Opening it, he turned it toward her. A diamond ring was perched inside. "I would be honored if you would marry me."

"Oh, Ron," Hermione whispered. Tears ran down her face as she smiled down at him. "I'd be honored to be your wife."

He took the ring out and slid it onto her finger. The group of picnickers across the river clapped and hooted when Ron stood and hugged her.

"Great Aunt Muriel gave me that on Bill and Fleur's wedding day to give to you," Ron said laughing quietly. He touched his forehead to Hermione's. "She saw the way I was looking at you and said she'd rather you have it than a French girl."

Hermione laughed. "Well, it's beautiful." She pulled him down and kissed him. "I love you," she whispered against his lips. He cut her words off by kissing her again. He was about to pull away but she pulled him closer and kissed him more deeply.

"I want you," she whispered against his lips.

"We can't," Ron said, laughing as she kissed him again. "There are Australians across the way there watching us."

"Oh! I forgot." She let go of him. Reflexively, her hand raised to push her hair out of her face even though it was tied back.

"Later," Ron said, "I promise."

* * *

As Harry left Hogwarts, he realized that Hermione probably would be better at teaching than him. Why hadn't they asked her instead?

But then, Harry thought, he couldn't be any worse than Lockhart had been. Right?

Once he reached the gate of Hogwarts, he Apparated home, went inside and set the professor's books down on the bottom step of the staircase.

Then, as he was walking down the stairs to the kitchen, it happened. An old, creaky stair broke underfoot and Harry's leg fell through, but because he'd been moving down the stairs at a bit of a jog, the leg that fell through the stair did not fare well. It broke, making a loud snapping noise.

Harry rarely cursed, but he did now. "Damned Black house," he said loudly.

No one was home. His leg was definitely broken. He could call for his owl… He hated this house. It was time to leave…

Hogwarts would not come soon enough suddenly. And then he remembered Kreacher.

"Kreacher!" Harry shouted. A loud popping noise announced Kreacher's arrival.

"Harry Potter needs assistance at once from St. Mungo's," Kreacher said from a few steps below Harry. "Is Harry Potter's leg broken?"

"Yes, Kreacher, please," Harry said, gritting his teeth, "It was an old stair."

"So very sorry, Kreacher is. That is Kreacher's fault. Kreacher should have noticed this stair last time he was here and repaired-"

"No, no, quite fine, Kreacher, I will fix it, but can you take me to St. Mungo's? I don't think I'm in a right state to Apparate just now."

"Of course, Harry Potter," Kreacher said. He grabbed Harry's hand and then snapped his fingers with his free hand. A second later, they were in St. Mungo's waiting room.

"Thank you, Kreacher," Harry said.

"It is my honor, sir," Kreacher said, bowing lowly.

"You can head back to Hogwarts now."

"Yes, Harry Potter, sir." Kreacher snapped his fingers and was gone.

The waiting room of St. Mungo's was relatively empty except for a man who seemed to be sprouting new warts every few seconds all over his face.

A minute later, a healer strode up to Harry.

"Broken leg? Simple enough," the healer said. Then, she knelt, tapped her wand down Harry's leg, which caused light blue sparks to trail in rings around the broken part. Harry felt a burning sensation deep in his leg, in the bone. And then, it was so itchy he could barely stand not to scratch it. And then, about a minute later, he felt completely fine. The only evidence that there had been any problem was a small tear in his jeans where the break had been.

"Thank you," Harry breathed. The healer looked at Harry's face for the first time.

"So, Mr. Potter?" the healer said. "What happened?"

"Stair broke while I was walking down them. Well I was sort of jogging down them. My leg fell through and I kept going sort of and my leg broke. Sort of embarrassing, really."

"Hmm," the healer said, nodding. "Well, it's unusual for a wizard to break his leg in a muggle way such as you did, but not impossible. Are you sure it wasn't a curse?"

"Actually, I can't be sure… the house has had a lot of dark objects…"

"Well, just in case, then." The healer bent down and did shot black ember-like sparks all down Harry's leg. Then, the healer waited a moment. Harry waited, and nothing happened.

"If it was a curse, it wasn't a strong one," the healer said and straightened up again. "Are you feeling alright now?"

"Yes, I feel fine. Thank you."

"Right then, off you go."

"Right, okay." Harry stood and pulled his wand from his back pocket.

"Oh, and Mr. Potter, thanks for killing Voldemort for us. Do appreciate it," the healer said, winking.

"Ah, sure. You're welcome," Harry said. Then, he walked out of the waiting room and Disapparated back to the front door of Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place.

To his surprise, he Apparated nearly directly on top of where Ginny was sitting, waiting for him.

"Oh, sorry," Harry said, stumbling off of her. Her face was ruddy and blotched, as though she'd been crying, but Harry tried to ignore it.

"It's okay! Oh Harry, are you alright?" Ginny said, hopping up from her seat on the step and steadying him.

"Yes, I'm fine. How did you-"

"Mum's clock. Your hand moved to 'Mortal Peril' and started chiming."

"I wouldn't say I was in mortal peril. I only broke my leg, but I'm fine now. Kreacher took me to St. Mungo's."

"What happened?" Ginny and Harry went inside.

"Oh, it's just this terrible, old house. I was sort of jogging downstairs to the kitchen and fell through a step. It could happen to anyone."

"Well," Ginny said, "I'm glad you're alright."

"Thanks… I'm going to sell this place. I'm tired of it. It's too depressing. You want to buy it off of me?"

"Mm. Nah, maybe next time," Ginny said. Harry laughed.

"Do you think your parents would have any use for it?"

"Oh… no… I think they like the Burrow."

"Come through the house with me anyway. You can help me pick out what to keep before I sell the place."

"Okay," Ginny said, shrugging. They moved into the parlor, which was the closest room off of the foyer. "Oh, you have to take this grand piano. It's beautiful."

"Do you play?" Harry asked her.

"No. I think Hermione does a bit."

"Yeah she does. Maybe she'd want it," Harry said, "But erm…" He didn't want to say that maybe his kids could learn piano someday because of the whole let's-not-move-too-fast thing. "It is beautiful. You're right. Maybe I should keep it."

Ginny made her way to the opposite side of the room. "You know, this sofa is actually quite comfortable." She sat down on it.

"It's the ugliest thing I think I've ever seen though," Harry said.

"Mm. You're right," Ginny said, standing and moving so she stood next to him. She pulled out her wand and transfigured the couch from its dirty-looking flower print to a clean, aqua-emerald green color. "There. That's the prettiest color I've ever seen."

"Yeah?"

He wondered if she noticed that she'd made the sofa the same color as his eyes or if it had been unintentional. He decided, for his own sake, not to say anything about it.

"Oh this grandfather clock is beautiful, have you ever noticed?" she said, moving to the wall adjacent to the now-green sofa.

"I hadn't. I don't really notice things like that."

"Well, it is quite a lovely clock. You should put it in your parents' house. Well, in _your_ house."

"I will," he said, grinning at her. She smiled back. "Why don't you just be my interior decorator of sorts? I trust your judgment."

"Really?" she asked, her smile widening. She hooked her hands onto her hips. "Are you fixing up your parents' house then?"

"If you think I should."

"Okay," she said, nodding once, "Yes, you should." They stared at each other for a moment before Ginny looked away from him and continued looking around the room.

"Want to come look at it with me for a bit? To Godric's Hollow? I've never tried going inside." He followed her back out into the hallway. When he said this, she turned and looked at him.

"Alright," she said slowly, "Okay, I've never been there, so…" She slid her hand into his. He held her hand back and led her back out of the house. Then, they Apparated to Godric's Hollow and walked down the main square until they found Harry's parents' old house.

"It's worse than I remember…" Harry said without thinking, "I was here only once before-"

"On Christmas Eve," Ginny said quietly, "with Hermione." Harry looked over at her sharply, about to ask her how she knew, but then he realized. The testimonies.

"Right. Christmas Eve." Ginny dropped his hand and stepped up toward the gate. The same sign that had been there when Harry visited before rose up and presented itself to Ginny.

"What about that? If you live here, do you want that popping up every time you come home?" Ginny asked, glancing back at Harry. He stepped forward and gazed at the sign.

"No, but I don't want to get rid of it either…"

"Let's take it down temporarily. You can think on it and decide what to do with it later, alright?"

"Yeah," Harry said, nodding. Then, he watched as Ginny opened the kissing gate and stepped into the dooryard. Quietly, she whispered spells so the weeds and brambles disappeared and grass and prettier flowers stayed where they were in the yard. Then, carefully, she made the sign un-wedge itself from the yard. The sign flew into her hands and she laid it down on the ground.

"Good job," Harry said, genuinely impressed.

"Being friends with Neville has its advantages," Ginny said, shrugging.

"No kidding, the yard looks great."

"You know what's a lovely thought? These flowers are perennials. There's a good possibility that your mother might have planted them. I like her taste. Roses… daisies… petunias… and lilies. Fitting." Ginny smiled and nodded as she gazed at the lilies.

"Really?" Harry asked quietly. He looked closer at the flowers.

"Oh, the fence-" Ginny pointed her wand at the white picket fence from where she stood and, calling out, "Scourgify!" she moved her way around the yard and cleaned the fence. The paint was chipped but the fence did look better once she was done. It took her less than two minutes.

"I didn't think it'd be possible to fix this place up properly, but now you're making me hopeful," Harry said. He tried to make himself sound light but his throat felt tight after what she'd said about the flowers.

"Well, the dark magic in the house is going to have to be taken care of by hand. We can't undo the damage that was done by you-know-who with magic. It was definitely too dark. But, hopefully it's minimal."

"Yeah," Harry agreed. This was going to be completely emotionally draining, he realized. Maybe he wasn't up for it.

But then Ginny was at his side and she pulled him into a hug. Harry didn't want to be hugged, not even by Ginny, in that moment.

She didn't say anything, but instead only pulled him down, kissed his cheek and then pulled him toward the house by his hand. He let her pull him.

After she magically cleaned the small front porch and the front windows, she magically unlocked the door.

"You first, Harry," Ginny said quietly.


	30. Dragon Skin Gloves

About a half an hour later, Hermione and Ron were sitting in the front room of Hermione's parents' house. Both of Hermione's parents were home as they wouldn't reopen their dentistry until the following week.

"So nice to see you again already, Hermione," her mother smiled at her.

"Good to see you again too, Mum. Dad."

"And this is Ronald, right?"

"Yes Mum."

Hermione's mother was busy pouring cups of tea for everyone. It was quiet until she sat down and everyone had cups of tea in their hands.

Ron stood and Hermione's parents gazed at him. "I know you don't think you know me very well, but I have known your daughter for more than seven years now. I've grown to love her. I care for her very much. And…" Ron seemed to falter as Mr. and Mrs. Granger continued staring at him.

"Ron and I are engaged to be married," Hermione said into the silence. It seemed silly to ask their permission now that they were there. Hermione's parents, after all, were basically strangers.

"How wonderful," Hermione's father said, smiling politely. Hermione's mother nodded in agreement, smiling too.

"Thanks." Hermione glanced over at Ron. He sat down next to her and she immediately grabbed his hand and squeezed it. He looked at her and grinned at her.

"Erm, do you remember me mentioning something called a Pensieve to you?" she asked her parents.

"Oh yes, something magical to help us remember things, wasn't it?" said Hermione's mother.

"Right. Well, I was wondering if you would be willing to give it, er, another try so that we can get to know each other a little better… I promise you'll be safe." Hermione glanced at Ron for help.

"If you want you can watch me go into it and come out again?" Ron offered.

"Well," Hermione's mother cleared her throat. It was quiet for a few seconds while she glanced at Hermione's father.

He said, "It's like we said before, dear. We just don't quite trust this magic stuff you talk about. We're remembering things bit by bit with the help of the pictures being put right."

"But, really, we don't want to offend you, er, Hermione, but we won't do it. If you'd kindly let it go…"

"Right, sorry, of course." Hermione set her teacup down on a nearby table and hopped up from her seat. Because Hermione hadn't dropped Ron's hand, Ron stood as well. "I don't know what I was thinking. Of course. We shouldn't have come down here." She was fighting back tears as she turned and dropped Ron's hand. "I did mention it to them before," she explained to him. "I just thought maybe if a little more time had passed-"

"Well, if we ever change our minds, we'll write to you," Hermione's mother said calmly. Hermione looked at her mother, nodded and then hurried from the room and out of the house.

Ron watched her leave before he turned back to Hermione's parents.

"Hermione told you why she did the Memory Charm?"

"To keep us safe. She mentioned that she was on the run…" Hermione's mother shrugged and glanced at her husband.

"Merlin, that makes it sound like she was on drugs or something," Ron said, rolling his eyes. "Look, your daughter helped save the world and knew she could have died doing it. If you think I'm scary, or that magic is scary, imagine a mass murderer, like, er, what was his name? Hitler! That's it. But imagine Hitler with magic. That's who we were up against. She didn't want you falling into that guy's hands, alright? That's why she did what she did. And she helped kill him. Imagine that. She's going to be in history books."

"I-" Hermione's mother started. Her father stood slowly, still with his teacup in hand.

"The least you could do is trust her to try to put it right," Ron finished, setting his teacup down. "I expect you at our wedding in June. She's still your daughter."

When Hermione's parents said nothing else, Ron turned and nearly ran into Hermione when he left. She'd been waiting on the front step, apparently listening. He grabbed her hand and started leading her away down the sidewalk.

"Wait!" Hermione's mother called from behind them. They both stopped and turned to look at her. "Come back in. Let's try this… thing… you were talking about. Can't hurt, right?"

* * *

When Harry stepped inside his parents' house, he was surprised by how orderly it looked, though it was quite dusty. He was expecting it to look as though it had been ransacked, as Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place had been.

The wall off to his right had a brick fireplace with a sofa situated facing it. Pacing toward it, he stepped around the sofa there and saw that a teacup, covered in dirty dust, still sat on the coffee table between the sofa and the fireplace.

The clock above the fireplace only had one hand on it: Harry.

His hand was pointed to home.

He didn't feel like he was home. And yet, he sort of did feel that way, too.

It was just like Mrs. Weasley's clock. Harry wondered if your hand on the clock disappeared when you died and maybe that's why his parents' hands on the clock weren't there. Ginny didn't follow him, but only watched him near the door. He was grateful for this.

On the far wall, opposite the front door, there was a staircase and a normal-sized door underneath it. He opened the door expecting a cupboard there but instead it opened to a large bedroom. The first thing he noticed in the room were James' and Lily's wedding pictures which still smiled and danced as though nothing bad had happened in this house. Their silver picture frames weren't dusty. Harry wondered if they'd been charmed to stay clean.

Their bed was made. The quilt was moth-eaten but looked like it had been pretty once.

Further exploration of the lower level revealed a kitchen with a cast iron stove and a dining room with stained glass windows.

Ginny did follow him upstairs, though Harry hardly noticed. At the top, there was the option to turn either right, left or continue straight into a washroom. Peeking to the left, Harry saw what he assumed was a guest bedroom. To the right, he knew, it was what had once been his bedroom as a baby.

When he stepped into the room, the debris underfoot crunched loudly with each step. Ahead of him, behind where a moldy, corroded baby's crib still stood, there was a large, jagged black hole blasted into the wall. Harry wildly thought of old cartoons that Dudley would watch on Saturday mornings-the ones where a character would jump through the wall and leave a comical hole behind.

Except this hole wasn't funny. The longer that he stared at it, the worse he felt and yet he wouldn't look away. Harry felt something deep inside his chest sink down. His shoulders hunched and he started crying.

Ginny stepped forward and they both sat down on the floor despite the broken glass and leaves and moss and dirt and bugs under them. She pulled his head to her chest. He let her.

She wrapped her arms around him.

"Harry…" she whispered, "Shh… shh…"

"I'm sorry," he said, trying to calm himself.

"It's okay. It's going to be okay now," she said into his ear. Harry leaned back and looked at her. She smiled kindly at him.

"You sound-" but he stopped himself. He was going to say she sounded like a mother, but he'd meant it as a compliment. However, he knew her well enough that he knew she wouldn't take it as a compliment. He pushed himself to his feet again.

"I sound what?" Ginny asked slowly, standing as well.

"Sorry for me. I'm really fine," he said, glancing around. He turned away from her as he dried his glasses on his shirt and wiped his eyes.

"I know you're fine," she said simply. She started looking around the room as well.

"The wall will have to come down by hand," Harry said.

"Yes."

They both started doing cleaning, and repairing spells and then banished the bugs and leaves and moss. Within a few minutes, the room was clean, including the crib.

"I suppose we could put up a tarp there to keep the weather out until we're ready to replace the wall," Harry said, thinking aloud.

"What should be done with the crib?" Ginny asked.

"Er… I think we got all the mold and everything, didn't we?" Harry said, looking down at it.

"No, I mean…"

"Oh. Right, I suppose I should get rid of it."

"No!" Ginny said just before Harry had the chance to banish. "It should at least go in a museum or something, don't you think?"

"Oh, yeah, maybe." Harry shrugged, lowering his wand.

"Well, just leave it for now." Ginny turned and left Harry there. He knew she was cleaning the dust from everything without having to ask-he could hear her quietly move to the guest room and then downstairs, all the while whispering the Scourgify spell.

Harry pulled the class schedule from his pocket. Tearing the corner from the parchment, he transfigured the little corner into a large blue tarp. Then, using a sticking spell, he stuck the tarp to the corners of the wall, careful not to touch the blasted-black parts of the wall.

Then, coming downstairs, he felt like it was easier to breathe: it was clean. It looked like someone actually lived there now.

"It's a nice place," Harry said. "Lots of windows and light. It's a nice change from Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place."

"You don't think it'll be hard to live here?" Ginny asked carefully, meeting Harry's eyes. He knew she meant it'd be hard since his parents died here.

"I never knew my parents though. Living here… it might not let me know them any better, but I don't know. It might just be nice to use a teacup that my mum did, or sleep in a house where they'd been happy. And, it shouldn't be a dusty monument anymore. There should be life here."

Ginny smiled at him. "That actually makes perfect sense." She stepped forward and pulled him into a hug.

As he hugged her though, he realized something. "There is one thing though, I don't think I can sleep in the same room or bed that they did."

Ginny laughed quietly. "Okay… so some changes are to be made?"

"Just a new bed, to start with. And we'll need somewhere to put that grand piano and grandfather clock. Maybe we'll have to stretch the dining room further."

"You know who is amazingly good at this sort of thing? My mother. She's had lots of practice at the Burrow."

"Of course."

"Come on. It'll be time for dinner soon. My mother is expecting you, remember? We can ask her to help."

Together, they left and Apparated to the Burrow.

* * *

Hermione and Ron worked with Hermione's parents and the Pensieve for a few hours. They remembered a little more of the past, but not as much as was hoped. However, the next day went better, and they seemed to trust her.

Hermione knew they had to leave soon, but she promised her parents she'd come back as soon as she could to show them more memories of her childhood. They both hugged Hermione and Ron goodbye.

* * *

After dinner at the Burrow, Ginny and Harry, with Mrs. Weasley's help, enlarged the dining room of the house in Godric's Hollow and moved the grand piano there. They also replaced the bed in the master bedroom with one from Number Twelve. Also, they brought the grandfather clock from Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place to the Godric's Hollow living room.

Then, the next day, Harry and Ginny, wearing Dragon skin gloves, tore the blackened wall away from what had once been Harry's nursery, board by board. They burned all the remnants of dark magic to ash in the fireplace. Mrs. Weasley magically replaced the wall once the fireplace was swept out and the ash was banished. Once they were finished, they agreed that no one couldn't have guessed that there'd ever been any damage to the room at all.

Harry didn't get rid of any of his parents' furniture. There wasn't a lot in the first place—Harry reminded himself that they'd been only a couple of years older than he was now when they'd gotten married and had had him.

Though he didn't say so, it was thankful to Ginny that she had stopped him from getting rid of the crib. Now that the room was fixed, part of him wanted to use it someday for his own child, if only to somehow say to Voldemort that he hadn't ruined it. As though, he could show that though his mother had died, she hadn't been bested in any way. The crib could still be a place where a child slept and was loved.

He still didn't know what to do with the sign that had been in the front yard. He ended up leaving it propped up against the wall in the spare bedroom.

Finally, it was time to go back to Hogwarts for one final year.


	31. Another Year at Hogwarts

"Come _on!_ It's time we be off!" Hermione called up the steps. She was standing by the door of Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place.

"Hold on, hold on," Ron called as he hurried down the steps, levitating his trunk in front of him. Hermione ducked as the trunk nearly hit her in the head. "Sorry-" he said, lowering his trunk to the floor. "I thought Harry was down here with you?"

"No, I thought he was upstairs with you?" Hermione said, glancing around as though maybe Harry would suddenly appear in the hallway with them.

"It's not a rush. We can just Apparate you know," Harry said, walking down the stairs, his trunk floating after him. In one hand he held his wand, and in his other he held Bilius's empty cage-Bilius had flown on ahead of them.

"No," Hermione said, hiking a hand to her hip. "Ron is Head Boy and I'm Head Girl, and we really must-"

"Oh, are you?" Harry asked Ron as he reached the bottom of the steps. "Congrats."

"Did you really not know?" Hermione asked. She lifted a cat carrier by the handle, which contained Crookshanks (freshly back from living with Hermione's parents).

"You only got back from Australia last night. How would I have known? I don't read your mail."

"Well," Hermione began.

"Right, let's be off," Ron said, cutting her off and grabbing the handle of his trunk. He Disapparated.

"Ugh, let's go," Hermione said, grabbing her trunk. She and Harry both Disapparated as well.

When Harry materialized on Platform 9 ¾, he immediately ran into someone.

"Sorry," he said automatically before he saw who it was.

"Quite-" the man responded. And then their eyes met. It was Draco Malfoy. "Quite alright, Potter," he finished. He didn't sneer or grimace. It was odd to Harry to see Draco's face in a relaxed state.

"Mm," Harry said, nodding awkwardly. Then, dragging his trunk, he walked away further down the platform through the gathering crowd. It wasn't long until he caught a glimpse of bright red hair.

"Ginny, over here!" Harry called as he came near her, gently pushing his way through the crowd toward her. "Have you seen Hermione and Ron?"

"Hi," she said, leaning up and pecking Harry on the cheek. "I thought they came with you?"

"They did, but by Apparition-"

"Um…," Ginny was scanning the crowd. "Oh, Hermione's on the train already." She pointed to a window. Surely enough, Hermione brown bushy hair could be seen through it.

"They're Head Boy and Head Girl," Harry explained.

"Yeah," Ginny said, nodding. "Well, want to sit with me? Maybe we can find Luna."

"Yeah, of course."

They pushed their way onto the train and after not finding Luna, they found an empty compartment.

"Neville is already there, you know, since he's a professor now," Ginny said as she sat down across from Harry after they were done stowing their trunks.

Harry had a panicked moment where he wondered if he was supposed to come ahead as well since he was a professor now too. Surely he would have been instructed to do so? Instead, his letter, which he'd gotten only a week ago after having visited McGonagall in the headmaster's office, had only said the normal things-which books to buy, that classes started September first, and details about pets and robes and things.

But then he remembered that Lupin had travelled in on the train in third year. Surely not all the professors had to be there early.

Ginny seemed to read Harry's face and spoke again. "Neville's head of Gryffindor House now too. Did he tell you? That's probably why he needed to be there earlier than you."

"Oh, no he didn't tell me. That's good. That makes sense." Harry smiled at Ginny, realizing that he was actually getting a little nervous about teaching. He tried to push the feeling away and instead watched as students walked down the aisle by their open compartment door. More students were boarding. "Did your mum come with you here? I didn't see her."

"No. I Apparated. It's weird, don't you think? To Apparate in order to take a train?"

"Yeah, but it wouldn't feel like the start of school without it."

"Luna!" Ginny called and waved.

"Oh, hello," Luna said, smiling. Luna wandered into the compartment and levitated her trunk up to the bars over the seats and then sat down next to Ginny.

Luna sat down and it was quiet between the three of them for a few seconds. Then Luna said, "Congratulations on Quidditch Captain, Ginny. I just heard."

"Thanks," Ginny said, glancing at Harry.

"Oh you're Quidditch Captain? Congrats," Harry said, surprised. He hadn't thought about Quidditch at all, but if he had, he would have realized that he'd assumed that he would be captain again.

"I meant to talk to you about it," Ginny said quickly. "It was decided when you withdrew earlier in the summer."

"You _should_ be Captain. Anyway, it'll be nice to watch from the stands for once."

"Surely you'll still be Seeker, though, won't you?" Ginny asked, shaking her head. The train started moving.

"Er, I don't know if that'd be such a good idea," Harry said, glancing at Luna, who was pulling a large onion from her bag. She proceeded to pull out a radish, and then what he thought might be a gurdyroot. Was she planning to make a salad? "I hadn't thought about it," Harry said finally, "We'll have to talk to Professor McGonagall, but really, I mean… I'm teaching fourth years who could easily be on the teams. I just can't imagine trying to hit one of my professors with a bludger. Could you?"

"But you have to admit," Luna said, "It'd make for some pretty interesting games. I wonder if they would announce you as 'Professor Potter?'"

The compartment door slid open and Ron came in and plopped down next to Harry. "The food trolley come by yet? I'm starving."

"No. Where's Hermione?" Harry asked.

"She's busy telling all the prefects what to do. I snuck away. Luna, why do you have so many vegetables in your bag?"

"Ah, well. You know that gurdyroots-"

"You know, on second thought, never mind," Ron said. The witch who always pushed the food trolley was strolling by so Ron immediately stood and bought a couple of chocolate frogs.

"Won't Hermione be mad if you're not patrolling or something?" Ginny asked as Ron sat down again.

"I am. I'm watching out for you lot," Ron said, grinning as he bit off a chocolate frog's squirming leg.

It was quiet for a minute while Ginny watched Luna pull more vegetables from her purse. Harry looked out the window at the sunny day and wondered if he shouldn't be reading one of his professor's texts or make up some lesson plans…

"Mm, that's a new card," Ron said quietly.

"Who is it?" Harry asked without looking away from the window.

"Well, it's you. And… ha! My other one's Hermione. You two are on chocolate frog cards," Ron said. He handed Harry the two cards. Surely enough, there was a card with an image of Hermione and one of Harry, each with a small description.

"Oh, Ron didn't you know? There's one of you too. Hold on a moment, I have one," Luna said, digging in her purse. After a few minutes, she pulled a card out with Ron on it as well.

"Well, how about that. We're famous," Ron said, looking down at the card that Luna had handed him.

"You'd think they'd have to ask us first before putting our pictures on something," Harry said, shrugging and handing Ron his cards back.

Later, after everyone had changed into their robes, Hermione came in and sat down next to Ron.

"Get it all sorted?" Ron asked her.

"Yes," she said. "We'll be arriving soon, so I thought I might just sit down a bit."

"The prefects have it under control. Don't worry," Ron said, patting her knee.

"You've got chocolate on your face," she said, reaching up and rubbing it from the corner of his mouth. At the same time, Ron tried to lick it away and ended up licking her finger.

"Oi, Ron, no licking your fiancée in front of me, thanks," Ginny said. Harry laughed.

"It'll be so strange this year," Luna said, her eyes wide on Ron and Hermione, "I wonder if this means you two won't fight anymore or you'll still fight like you used to. Did you talk about the Fate that Harry-?"

"Luna, your gurdyroot is rolling away," Harry warned.

"Oh so it is," Luna said, watching it. It rolled out of the open compartment door. "Excuse me. I should probably get it before it rolls to the end of the train."

"What fate? What's she on about?" Ginny asked.

"Oh," Ron said, cutting in, "Harry and I smoked some Wizard's Weed that was left after the party. He saw, er, you and him and you were pregnant."

Hermione was staring at Ron. And so was Ginny.

Harry leaned forward and put his head in his hands. Neither Hermione nor Ron had any idea that Harry had kissed Hermione on the bathroom floor in front of Luna and Neville. But, of course, Harry forgot to tell Luna and Neville this.

"Oh," Ginny said. It was quiet until Luna came back and sat down, gurdyroot in hand. Ginny spoke again, "Harry, it's okay. You can't control the Fates you see. I'm not mad."

"Right," Harry said. He looked at her and tried to smile but then just ended up looking out the window.

A little while later, once everyone was off the train, and after they reached the door on their thestral-drawn carriages, Neville greeted Harry.

"Come on, Professor McGonagall says you're to sit up at the head table with the rest of the professors," he said.

"Oh." Harry hadn't thought about this. Would he always be expected to sit at the head table for every meal, or just this one? "Alright." He glanced to Ginny and then to Ron, Hermione and Luna. "See you later."

"So you're teaching Defense," Neville said as they made their way through the crowd to the front of the Great Hall.

"Just first through fourth years," Harry said. "I'm still going to be taking the classes I missed last year."

"Right. That sounds like it'll be hard… but I'm sure you'll manage. And you're taking independent study with me. That ought to be a laugh."

"If you mean it'll be mostly you laughing at me for how abysmal I am at Herbology, then yes, I do expect it'll be quite a laugh."

Neville laughed as he sat down at the head table. "You can't be abysmal at Herbology. It's just reading and remembering, mostly."

"So it would seem… Do we just sit anywhere?" Harry asked.

"Well, not in the headmistress's seat of course, but yeah," Neville said, shrugging. Harry sat down by Neville, at the very end of the table. They were both directly in front of Gryffindor's table. Harry scanned the crowd and quickly found Ron, Hermione and Ginny. Ginny was sitting next to Dean, which made him a little annoyed, but not as annoyed as the fact that she was sitting across from Seamus.

"Neville, remember the party over the summer… and how I kissed someone there?" Harry said quietly.

"Yeah," Neville said. He seemed a little nervous.

"Well I never told Ron and I did a memory charm on Hermione to make her forget it."

"Oh, it's nothing to be embarrassed about, Harry…"

Hagrid lumbered by then and smacked Harry's shoulder. "Alrigh' there 'arry? Good ta see you up here with the professors," he said.

"Good to see you Hagrid," Harry said. Hagrid walked further down the table and sat in the enlarged chair waiting there for him. Once Hagrid was seated, Harry looked back at Neville.

"You can trust me Harry. I won't tell anyone," Neville said quietly.

"Thanks-"

"Oh! I almost forgot," Neville said, reaching into his robes' pocket. "Here." Neville handed him a piece of folded parchment.

"Professor McGonagall asked me to give this to you. You know, you're the first professor to ever take classes at the same time as you're teaching, and those student letters are sent out magically, so yeah…"

"Right. Thanks."

Harry read:

 _Dear Mr. Potter,_

 _I am so pleased you have accepted the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor for Years 1-4. If you have any questions regarding the school rules or your schedule, please see me._

 _You will be expected to keep a ledger of your students' grades at least bi-weekly. These grades will be reported to me magically through your teacher's ledger. If anyone is failing your class, I assume you will conference with them during your office hours. If you ever need my assistance with such conferences, please do not hesitate to ask by owl so it will be in writing._

 _As a professor, you will be permitted to leave school grounds as you see fit. However, please maintain the decorum befitting of a Hogwarts professor if you do so. Keep in mind that gates will be locked after dark unless you contact the Keeper of Keys (Hagrid) ahead of time, who may unlock the gate at his discretion._

 _As a professor, I insist you eat dinner at the head table at least for feasts such as beginning and end of year as well as any other formal occasions, assuming you are in attendance. Other meals may be taken as desired._

 _All professors are offered professor's quarters in addition to their salary. As you are not a head of house, you are not required to live here; however, as a student, you are, as always, required to live here. Therefore, your professor's quarters have been readied. In your case, you will be living in the rooms attached to the Defense Against the Dark Arts office. That being said, you shall still be permitted into the Gryffindor Common Room as you are a seventh year as well. Professor Longbottom has been instructed to give you the keys to the DADA rooms._

 _As I believe you are already aware, the staffroom is located on the ground floor nearby the Great Hall. There are always refreshments available there. However, do not expect it to be a quiet place to study or grade tests._

 _Lastly, as you are a new professor, your salary shall be 150 galleons a week. This amount will be deposited directly into your vault at Gringotts unless otherwise instructed. Pay raises are available every five years of service based on professorial performance._

 _If you have any questions, please never hesitate to ask._

 _Professor Minerva McGonagall_

"Neville, have you got some keys for me?" Harry asked glancing over at him.

"Oh, right. I knew I was forgetting something else." Neville reached into the pocket of his robes once more and pulled out three keys and handed them to Harry. Neville's robes weren't student's robes, but Harry didn't care. Yes, Harry was wearing students' robes, but he was still a student. And really, the only tell-tale signs were the cuffs and the collar.

"Thanks," Harry said, pocketing the keys. Professor McGonagall strode forward and made some announcements which unfortunately did not contain any interesting words like Dumbledore would have used... like 'oddment' or 'blubber' or 'tweak'.

She announced the "new professors" and Harry was made to stand in turn with Neville and Arthur Weasley, who Harry hadn't noticed until then. Arthur sat on the other end of the table, where Snape always used to sit.

McGonagall then announced that Professor Babbling, the Ancient Runes professor, would be the new Hufflepuff head-of-house.

After the Sorting Hat Ceremony, Harry tried to eat dinner in a little more tidily than normal. It was strange to eat as though he was on a stage. He mostly listened to Neville talk excitedly about what he had planned for his students for the next few months.

After dinner, Harry watched as the students filed out, led by Hermione and a slouching Ron and the other prefects. He watched as Ginny turned and looked up at him, but she didn't wave because a girl (Harry couldn't tell who the girl was because her back was turned as she walked out of the room) was talking to her.

Finally, after the crowd of students thinned, Harry stood along with some of the other professors who hadn't wanted to fight through the crowd.

"So are you off to the greenhouses?" Harry asked Neville.

"Mm. Yeah. There's a little flat hidden down there that used to be Professor Sprout's. You want to come down for a kip?"

"Ah, maybe another night."

"Right, you probably want to get settled in before you're expected to teach classes tomorrow. I can't wait. I already have everything set up. I have fifth years first thing on Mondays."

"I don't have anything set up. Maybe I'll ask them what they want to learn," Harry said as a joke.

"You know, that's a good idea," Neville said seriously, "You're bound to get a Hermione in at least one class that will have a real answer. I might try that too."

At the entrance to the Great Hall, they parted ways.

Harry trailed slowly up to the third floor. Sadly, he realized he wouldn't have a chance to talk to Ron or Hermione or Ginny until breakfast tomorrow.


	32. Defense Against the Dark Arts Classroom

It took Harry a long time to fall asleep. He kept thinking about how Mad-eye Moody had spent the school year trapped in a trunk in the very room in which he was trying to sleep. When he stopped thinking about that, Lupin kept drifting into his mind.

Harry felt like he'd slept for about ten minutes before sunlight was beaming into his face. After washing in his bathroom, he pulled clean robes on, shoved his wand into a pocket, grabbed his Charms textbook (as it was first thing for him on Mondays) and headed down to breakfast.

He hadn't noticed how quiet it had been in his professor's quarters until he came down closer to the Great Hall. Even though it was early, the chatter was like a dull roar.

It took him no time to find Hermione and Ron.

"Mm, you could have told us you weren't going to be staying in the dorms," Ron said with his mouth full. Hermione was busy reading her Charms textbook and didn't look up.

"I didn't know until dinner. I'm staying where the Defense professors always stay."

As he said this, Ginny strolled in and sat down next to him.

"Morning," she said, pouring herself a glass of pumpkin juice. "Harry, you look like you haven't slept a wink."

"Thanks," Harry said, pouring juice for himself. Ginny scooped some eggs and bacon onto Harry's plate for him and then some for herself. "It was weird sleeping in that room."

"What, you afraid of the ghosts?" Ron asked.

"No, it's just… strange, that's all." Harry shook his head and shoved some scrambled eggs into his mouth.

"I could come down and keep you company," Ginny said quietly into Harry's ear. Though he tried not to show it, Harry was shocked by what she'd said. What did she mean by that?

"Oi, I heard that," Ron said. Hermione looked up from her book then and looked quizzically at Ginny. Ginny looked pointedly away from Hermione.

Harry ignored Ron. "I wouldn't want you to get in trouble," he said to Ginny as though she said such things all the time. "I'm not sure what the rules are about professors and students…"

"If you were caught doing anything untoward, you would be formally reprimanded and Ginny would get detention," Hermione said, turning a page to her Charms textbook and looking back down at it. "They revised the rules though. It used to be longer detention before we left. If it happens a second time, there has to be a formal hearing at the Ministry though, just as before."

"I think I'll take my chances," Ginny said shrugging. "I'm not planning to do anything _untoward_. It wouldn't be the first detention I ever served anyway. And, Harry's still a student, isn't he? What would that say about him having a wank?" Ron coughed on his eggs. Ginny ignored him, "Well think about it. Would he have to go before the Ministry since he'd be a professor and a student having-"

"Well," Hermione said, pursing her lips, "It's a good thing that you're of age, or Harry would lose his job and possibly be sent to Azkaban for statutory rape if you two were caught together. Even the first time."

Harry stared down at his plate, willing Hermione and Ginny to stop talking. "We won't be doing anything anyway. Ginny has made it clear—"

"It's too early in the morning to be talking about rape, Hermione. And that's my sister we're talking about. And Harry. Come on, now," Ron said.

"Well, it's true. Best to know the facts, I say."

"Really? You say that it's best to know the facts? I don't think I've ever heard you say that," Ron said.

"Ron," Hermione huffed. "Honestly…" Harry glanced over at Ginny, who was staring at Ron and Hermione with a look of astonished mirth on her face. Curiosity got the better of Harry and he looked over at them.

Ron and Hermione were face to face for a second, glaring at each other, and then suddenly, Ron was kissing Hermione. She slung her arms around his neck, pulling Ron so he was half on top of her, and kissed him back.

It took about three seconds before catcalls echoed through the Great Hall, all pointed toward the two snogging in the middle of the room.

Harry looked down at his plate again and tried to eat more breakfast even though he wasn't hungry. Actually, he was feeling a little ill.

"Knock it off, you two. You're going to make Harry vomit into his eggs," Ginny called to them, but they'd already broken up their kiss.

Hermione hid her face in her hands. "I'm sorry," she said quietly without looking up.

"No problem," Harry said back, while at the same time Ron said, "Anytime."

* * *

After breakfast, they all walked to Charms. Harry ended up sitting next to Ginny, but she talked to Parvati until the class started, so he ended up watching Ron surreptitiously play with Hermione's hair while she pretended not to notice. Once class started, it passed quickly even though it was a double lesson.

With a pat on the shoulder from Ron, Harry headed back to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. It was time to teach his first class.

Why was he so nervous?

He strode purposefully to the front of the room, ignoring the few first years who had beat him there, and went up to his professor's rooms. There, he got out his first year professor's text, tapped his robe pocket to make sure he still had his wand, took a deep breath, and then went back down to the front of the room to his professor's desk. On the desktop, there appeared to be a ledger of names. Peering down at it, he realized it was a list of each class's students' names.

Looking up from the list and around the classroom, he realized that thirty first year students were sitting silently and staring at him. He hadn't noticed the bell to signal the start of class even though really, it had been booming just as always.

"Right," Harry said, straightening up from the list. He set his professor's text gently down next to the parchment and took out his wand. A few of the students flinched when he did this. Glancing around at them, he carefully laid his wand down next to the text.

"This is Defense Against the Dark Arts, Year One. And by the look of you, I've got Gryffindors and Slytherins first… I'm Har- I'm Professor Potter."

It was silent for a few seconds. It made Harry even more nervous. He suddenly had more respect for every professor he'd ever had. What was he going to say for the next forty-odd minutes?

A Gryffindor boy raised his hand.

"Yes?" Harry asked the boy immediately.

"Most of us know who you are, you know, Professor. Could you tell us about how you killed you-know-who? My dad says that you killed him off piece by piece."

"Does that mean you took his arms and legs off or something?" asked a Slytherin boy.

"I won't be telling you about that. At least not today. Maybe your question would be better suited for Professor Binns?" Harry suggested, leaning back against his desk. About half of the class looked noticeably disappointed at this. Harry crossed his arms over his chest-his hand itched to pick up his wand but he knew that he shouldn't. He didn't want to scare them, but he felt caught off guard. Why hadn't he realized that the students would want to hear about Voldemort and the past year?

Harry hoped in vain that this curiosity would be limited to the first year classes.

"Er… How about, if we have time at the end of class I'll answer a few questions. In the meantime, I'd like to know what you'd like to learn about Defense Against the Dark Arts."

No one spoke or moved for an entire ten seconds.

Harry straightened up from his lean. "Come on now, I won't hex you. Anyone?"

A Gryffindor girl with dark brown hair raised her hand.

"Yes? Miss-"

"Garendorn, sir," she said, sitting up straighter. "Excuse me, but what's a hex?"

"Ah, Miss Garendorn. Good question. I suppose you won't know what you want to learn until I've taught you the basics." Harry nodded and strode to the chalkboard. In large white letters, he wrote "hex" and then turned to face the class again. "I trust you all got a copy of the required text for the class, _The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection._ Yes?" A few of the students held their copies up to show that they had them. "Good. Let's crack them open. Whoever finds the definition of a hex first wins five house points."

* * *

The second class of first years went a little better than the first as Harry felt he knew better how to start. He was surprised by the difference in the class's willingness to take part too. While Slytherins were more than willing to sit back and goof off or else just passively listen, and Gryffindors loved to answer questions even if they had the wrong answer, Hufflepuffs took their studies very seriously. They took notes as attentively as Hermione always did. Meanwhile the Ravenclaws, despite only being in first year, seemed to already know all the answers.

By fifth period of the day, he had his first class of second years. Not only did they want to know about the battle, but they were much more adamant about getting answers than the first years. By the end of the class, Harry was exhausted. He didn't know how he'd make it through another class of second years after this or his independent study with Neville tonight.

On his way down to the Great Hall, a hand slid into his and held it. Harry glanced up, knowing it would be Ginny there.

"Was it that bad? Oh, goodness, we might have to take you to Madam Pomfrey," Ginny said. Harry watched as her gaze darted all over his face.

"I'm fine," he said, shaking his head, "Teaching is just exhausting."

"I know what you need. Come on," she said, tugging him back up the stairs.

He let her tug him back up the stairs. "I'm not visiting the hospital wing."

"Okay." She was smirking at him.

"And I don't want that tonic that they pass around during final exams."

"I was thinking something a bit more… calming."

"What? Like a Draught of Peace?" They were nearly to the third floor landing again.

"Do I look like a potioneer to you, Harry? Anyway, you look like you're ready to fall asleep where you stand. Why would I give you that?"

"Sorry…"

They were back at the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Ginny pulled him inside and glancing behind her down the otherwise empty hallway, she shut the door behind them.

"What-" Harry began but Ginny was already on him. Her hands found their way into his hair as she kissed him.

Harry stumbled at the sudden force of her on him and they fell backward to the ground. If he hadn't been so tired, he knew he would have realized what she was doing sooner. The fact that she'd caught him off guard only made him feel stupid.

"We really shouldn't…" Harry began, glancing toward the shut door.

Ginny flicked her wand and the door locked.

"No one needs to know," she said, smiling at him as one of her hands drifted down from his hair and down his chest. "We'll have to just be extra quiet."

"You mean _you_ have to be quiet… You're the loud-" Harry shut his eyes and forgot what he was going to say. Through his open school robes, she unbuttoned his trousers. Then, her hand was on him.

"Mmm," Ginny said against his lips. Harry's mind went blank. While he enjoyed what Ginny was doing, he couldn't help the nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Ginny, wait," Harry said, and taking both of her arms in his hands, he stopped her from touching him anymore.

"What?" He could tell that she probably already knew what he was going to say.

"I can't do this with you. I don't want you messing me around. You're driving me crazy. _You_ broke up with _me_ , remember?"

They both sat frozen, staring at the other, both afraid to speak for a moment.

"I'm not messing you around," Ginny said finally. "At least, I'm not trying to." She sat up so she was off of him. They sat facing each other on the cold stone floor.

"Then what are you doing here?"

"I'm not really sure." Ginny stood then, but not before Harry saw the tears welling in her eyes. By the time he stood up though, she'd cleared them away.

"Then let's not do something to add to your list of regrets," he said carefully.

"I don't have a list of regrets—"

"Come on," Harry said, "Let's go eat lunch, alright? Let's actually be friends."

"Friends?"

"If we hurry, we might catch the crumbs from Ron's robes."

"How appetizing," Ginny said, following him out of the room.


	33. Ashwinders

As it happened, Harry and Ginny didn't need to eat Ron's crumbs after all and were able to eat lunch in the last fifteen minutes of the period.

Though he was still tired, Harry's second class of second years after lunch went by quickly. He'd forgotten he had a free period next until the class ended.

Suddenly, he wasn't sure what to do with himself. It crossed his mind that he could head down to the greenhouses early but Neville probably had a class to teach. He could plan lessons but he thought that it wasn't necessary. Maybe at the end of the week he'd have to plan a test at some point, but for now, he had other plans.

He made it to the portrait of the Fat Lady before he realized he never had learned the password. She was lounging on a chaise and dangling grapes over her mouth.

* * *

"Ron, listen," Hermione said. She and Ron were nose to nose in the broom cupboard again.

"You don't have to say anything," he whispered to her, "I know why we're here."

"You do?" she asked. Her voice was barely audible.

"You don't have to be so shy, Hermione. I know I never got to keep my promise that I made by the river."

"What? No. What promise? What are you talking about?"

"After I proposed to you in Australia, you said you… you said you wanted me."

"No, it's not that. We need to talk." Hermione stepped backward from him as an automatic reaction. She immediately regretted it though: she knocked a bucket and three mops over. Ron tried to stop them but it was too late. They crashed to the floor.

"Do you think anyone heard that?" Hermione said as Ron leaned over her and tried to pick up the bucket she'd knocked over.

* * *

"Hey, wouldn't be willing to let me in again without a password, would you?" Harry asked the Fat Lady.

"Sorry, no password, no entrance," she said as she chewed a grape. Harry glanced over his shoulder and saw no one. Should he just go back to the Defense classroom? He already had homework in Charms-ten inches of parchment on the uses of _Lumos_ versus _Lumos Maxima,_ _Lumos Duo_ and _Lumos Solem._ Maybe he ought to start on it now?

But then there was a loud crash-it had come from behind a door not far from where he stood. Purely as a reaction, he drew his wand and hurried toward the noise.

It was a broom closet. Harry glanced up and down the seventh floor hallway… he was sure it'd come from here. He tried the knob but it was locked.

"Shh maybe they'll go away," said someone from inside the room. It was a very familiar voice.

"Ron?" Harry called toward the door. "Is that you? Are you alright?"

"Just fine. Looking for… er, a bucket. There's one. Found it."

"Right." Harry stowed his wand away back in his pocket and crossed his arms over his chest. "What's the password to the Common Room?"

"Er, Devil's Snare."

"Thanks." It was quiet for a few minutes, and Harry realized that Hermione must be in there with Ron. He almost walked away… "What are you going to use the bucket for?"

"Oh, for erm, Hermione needed it. I think she's trying to get ahead with Potions and she mentioned she needed one."

"Have you seen Hermione by the way? I've been meaning to talk to her about something."

"Have I seen Hermione? I see her all the time…"

"Do you see her now, at this moment?" There was a moment's pause and Harry heard a rustling sound. Part of him was amused, but part of him wasn't. In fact, he wasn't sure why, but he felt a little angry. (It was the same part of him that had really wanted to let Ginny keep doing what she'd been doing before they went for lunch.)

"What did you want to talk to her about? If I see her I'll let her know."

"Oh it wasn't important. I'm sure I'll see her soon enough… Oh by the way, did you get around to seeing Madame Pomfrey about those weird bumps you have?"

"What-I don't have-"

"What was that you said? Maybe you have mumblemumps. Mumbling is one of the symptoms, you know."

"Alright, alright!" called Hermione from through the door. The door clicked unlocked and Harry stepped back as it swung open. "I'm here. And I know for a fact Ron doesn't have any bumps. We just wanted… some time alone, alright?" She was blushing but held Harry's gaze.

Ron followed her out. "Not exactly romantic, but the dormitories aren't quite so private."

"Right," Harry said, watching Hermione shut the closet door. "Head Girl and Head Boy locked together in a broom closet. What would a professor do in this situation? Oh wait, I'm a professor-"

"Harry," Hermione said in a warning tone.

"He's only joking," Ron said, though no one was laughing. Hermione pushed past them and the two boys followed after her. Harry had a feeling they were headed for the library.

"Have you tried the Room of Requirement?" Harry suggested after it was quiet for a moment as they walked down the hall.

"What? Oh. You know, we hadn't thought of that," Ron said, "But the Fiendfyre would have destroyed it, don't you think?"

"Well, it was contained to the room. We know that much," Hermione said, glancing back between the two of them. "It's likely that the room still exists. However, it's also likely that the fire is still burning in there."

"You don't think they put it out during the cleanup?" Ron asked.

"Only one way to find out," Harry said.

"Well, if we're going to put it out, we really should go now during the free period," Hermione said, pulling her wand from her sock. "I want to do the Charms essay tonight to get a head start."

"Right, if it can be taken care of so easily," Ron said, "then why didn't we just put it out when we nearly burned to death in it on the night of the battle?" But as Ron said this, he was already pulling his wand from his pocket.

"I looked it up of course. It'd be stupid not to know it, especially after what happened." She stopped and turned to face them both. "First you have to do a nonverbal flame-freezing charm because if you say it aloud the flames will hear you and will split off so it can't be contained. Once the flames are frozen you then do _reducto_ to try to break them into small pieces. When they're smaller than a few inches tall then you do _finite incantatem_ and they should disappear." She turned and started walking down the hall again. "But you can't do the verbal spells until the flames are all frozen of course. And freezing spells generally only last a few seconds at a time on Fiendfyre if done properly… so just…"

"We'll be fine," Ron said. Harry could tell that he'd meant it. But Harry wasn't so sure. It was far more complicated than just a simple banishing spell.

"Oh, and there's always _Partis Temporus_ in an emergency. It'll split the fire if we need to get away," Hermione said over her shoulder.

"Dumbledore used that in the cave," Harry said, mostly to himself.

Oddly, walking down this hall with them on this small mission, he felt like he had purpose. He felt normal again.

Is this what it took for him to feel normal? A march toward the real possibility of death? Harry grimaced. What would Ginny say if she knew what they were about to do?

Harry knew the answer as he thought of the question: she'd jump in and help. Simple as that.

Hermione paced back and forth in front of them three times. And then the door to the Room of Requirement appeared.

"Ready?" she asked. But before either of them answered, she pulled the door open. Harry braced himself for the inevitable wave of flames to lick out at them through the doorway.

But there weren't any. The flames were out. And yet it was still intensely hot just inside the doorway.

Instead of flames, there were large mounds of ash scattered everywhere throughout the room. And between these ashy hills, pale-grey snakelike creatures with glowing red eyes were slithering about. On top of a fair number of these ashy mounds, glowing red-hot eggs lay in ashy nests. In fact, the eggs were everywhere.

"Ashwinders," Hermione whispered. "Freeze the eggs and try to keep away from the ashwinders themselves. They'll burn you if you try to kill them."

Harry and Ron nodded and the three of them hurried around the room, freezing the eggs. Hermione did her spells silently, and Harry tried but he could hear Ron whispering the freezing charm and the eggs didn't seem to notice. So Harry said the charm aloud as it was much easier. Soon, all the eggs were frozen and oddly, the snakelike creatures began dying.

"Ashwinders only live for about an hour," she explained, wiping a bit of soot across her forehead when she tried to wipe sweat away.

"I have to admit, that was a bit disappointing," Harry said. Ron wiped the ash from Hermione's forehead.

"Disappointing?" Ron said as he wiped Hermione's forehead, "Don't you mean, it was a bit lucky? We didn't risk dying."

"Well, those eggs can burn you quite badly actually. We were still risking injury," Hermione said. She turned away from Ron and began levitating the eggs into neat rows near the door. Then, she banished the dead ashwinders and the mounds of ash with Ron and Harry's help until the room was clean. Finally, she conjured a metal box and levitated the frozen eggs into it.

"Going to keep them for pets?" Ron asked as she carefully lidded the box.

"No, but I thought maybe Professor Slughorn might be interested," she shrugged, glancing up at Ron, "Or maybe we could even keep them for George for when he comes back. They're used in love potions."

"You think our freezing charms will hold for long enough for George?" Harry asked. Hermione opened the door and guided the floating box out after her.

"On these eggs? They should hold until we die, and probably after that if we did it with a concentrated mind, just like any other charm," she said.

"Well, now I have a proper room to snog you in," Ron said happily. "But Professor Potter, you didn't hear that, alright?"

Harry forced himself to smile and laugh.

At the end of the hallway, they parted ways. Hermione had Ancient Runes, Ron had another free period, and Harry had independent study in Herbology with Neville.

"Right on time, Harry," Neville said when Harry wandered into the last greenhouse.

"Oh good, I've found you. I wasn't sure which greenhouse you'd be in."

"Sorry, yeah. Here I am," Neville said, shrugging and holding up a hand. "I thought you could help me prep the garden for the seventh years who'll be meeting tomorrow. They'll be potting Hyena trees."

"Oh okay." Harry followed Neville to the far end of the greenhouse to a row of small pots and soil and seeds. "So anything special I need to know before we start this?"

"Well, they'll stay in these pots overnight until they're sprouted. They should be about a foot tall by the time the seventh years come-and then we'll have to repot them until they grow into saplings, which takes about a week, and then I'll need to find a spot to grow a small orchard. Come next fall, they'll drop their leaves which can be used for potions of laughter and hysteria. You have to handle them carefully or they can make you have uncontrolled fits of laughter if they get caught in the wind and you happen to be nearby."

"Oh, right, Alihotsy leaves? I remember something-"

"Exactly! Good job, Harry. See? Herbology isn't so hard."

"Well, I already knew that one from Potions…"

"Well, still," Neville said, smiling and shrugging. "We'll have to make sure that the trees aren't anywhere that the leaves could catch the wind." He dug his hand trowel into the bucket of soil nearby and scooped it into a little pot. "My plan is to grow as much as we can on the grounds for potions classes and for the hospital wing. You'd be surprised how much they spend on all the stores."

"You could always magically enhance a greenhouse so it'd be tall enough for the trees. Then they could grow inside," Harry suggested. He mimicked Neville and started potting the tree seeds.

"That's a good idea," Neville said, "But they need the change in temperature in the fall for the leaves to ripen. I was thinking I'd just make some sort of nets around over the trees so the leaves couldn't blow away. That's a normal thing to do for dangerous trees, really."

"What if the leaves get out from underneath the nets?" Harry asked.

"Oh, you don't just sling the net overtop the trees," Neville said, shaking his head. "Did you forget we can use magic, Harry? We make them immovable and then you can charm a door into it. Quite simple."

"I suppose I did forget," Harry laughed.

"I'm glad you have your independent study before the seventh years' class every week. You can be my practice."

"Yeah, teaching can be a bit nerve wracking…" Harry was starting to sweat. It probably didn't help that he was already hot from the ashwinders and then hurrying down to the greenhouses.

"I love teaching," Neville said, his eyes widening, "but the thought of teaching my friends… that's got me a bit nervous. I mean, I'll be teaching Hermione."

"But you know what you're doing. You have nothing to be afraid of. And if you ever do feel threatened, you could always threaten them back with a decapitation from Gryffindor's sword."

Neville laughed. "Right."


	34. Draco in the Forest

Hermione was naked in a large bed with black silky sheets. Harry was next to her and he was naked too. His eyes were so beautiful, it was a shame that he always hid them behind glasses. Selfishly, she was happy that she was the only one who ever was allowed to see them this closely… He kissed her neck-

"You'll be late for breakfast," Ginny said, hovering over her. Hermione was suddenly back in her four-poster in the Gryffindor dormitory. She was wearing her normal, everyday flannel pajamas.

"Ginny!" Hermione squeaked, sitting up too quickly. They nearly bumped heads but Ginny jumped back and avoided it.

"Bad dream?" Ginny asked, turning away as she pulled her pajamas off and began changing into a skirt and t-shirt.

"Erm, I don't remember. Why?" Hermione swung her feet out of bed, trying not to watch Ginny change.

"You were moaning… oh, never mind."

"What?" Hermione stood and moved to the end of her bed where her trunk sat.

"I don't want to know about your sex dreams with my brother."

"Ginny!" Hermione's mind was buzzing-if Ginny was any good at Legilimency, this would have been quite a bit more awkward. A second dream about Harry? And this dream had been so… intimate. Maybe it meant something else? Like, maybe it meant that she simply trusted Harry? Yes, that must be it. Or maybe she shouldn't eat cauldron cakes before bed…

"Hermione, did you hear me?" Ginny asked. She now had her school robes on overtop of her clothes and was standing right next to Hermione's trunk.

"Mm?" Hermione chanced a glance up at Ginny.

"I said I'm going down to breakfast. Do you want me to wait for you?"

"Oh, no. You go ahead." Hermione pulled open her school trunk and began rummaging through.

"Okay," Ginny said. It was quiet while Hermione waited for Ginny to leave. But she didn't. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine," Hermione answered immediately.

"Well, if you want to talk about it… there's always Harry if you can't tell me…"

"Of course."

After what seemed to be an eternity, but really was only three more seconds, Ginny left the girls' dormitory. As the other girls had already left, Hermione was left alone. She hoped she would forget the dream soon and she wondered if her hot face was also red.

* * *

Draco Malfoy woke up early this morning as usual. He hadn't been able to sleep well in more than two years now, but of course no one but Draco knew this.

Out of habit, he had brushed his hair back with Sleekeazy's Hair Potion this morning, shaved the shockingly red facial hair that he had (could he share ancestry with those Weasleys?), slapped on the same aftershave potion that his father wore, and then pulled on a tailored black wizard's suit to match the compulsory black student's robe. He couldn't imagine making it through another year at this school, not after everything that happened.

And yet here he was.

He wasn't hungry. He'd strode to the doors of the Great Hall alone (he was always alone anymore) but didn't enter. Harry Potter and Weasley and Granger were there. A constant humiliating reminder of what an unbearable cowardly fool his father was and how that man had deceived him his entire childhood by pretending to be honorable.

Instead, Draco continued walking and pushed his way through the heavy front doors of the castle and strode out down the grounds. Though he was already alone out in the early autumn morning, he could still hear the clatter and hubbub of breakfast. He kept his pace until he couldn't hear it anymore (he was halfway to Hagrid's hut) and then he slowed.

Really, Draco thought, he should just leave. Who would miss him besides his mother? He could go live as a muggle somewhere and find some muggle wife who would think he was a genius because he'd, of course, use charms and Legilimency on her whenever necessary.

But he reminded himself, his mother had been through enough. And really, even if he was going to start this new phase of not hating muggles anymore, he wasn't ready to live like one. He'd never be ready for that.

Perhaps, he thought, he should simply find a girlfriend who wasn't in Slytherin. He still hadn't responded to Pansy's last owl- she and her parents were lying low in Romania even though they'd actually not really done anything wrong...

He'd made it to the edge of the Forbidden Forest without meaning to. With half a glance backward, he entered the forest's edge.

Draco shoved his hands in his pockets. The fall was coming on early and Draco's long fingers had already gotten cold, not that he minded.

He shuffled his shining black shoes through the scree and fallen leaves underfoot, passive-aggressively enjoying the fact that he was getting his shoes dirty. After all, what would happen now if he came home during Christmas with scuffed shoes? He could hardly imagine his father blocking his ears for such a thing. Not after everything.

His father, plainly, was a dumb shell. Actually dumb. He didn't eat or talk much, though he'd never really before either. But now, he was broken. The sneering judgment was gone. And so was the fight, the conceit, and the pride. At least, it was when Draco left to live alone in their summer house for the past month. Probably nothing had changed in the matter of a few weeks.

Obviously, Lucius Malfoy had changed for the better. And yet, Draco couldn't help but feel like a part of his childhood-however dreadful his father may have been during that childhood-was now dead and gone. Draco didn't know how to be nice. It seemed Lucius didn't know either.

Glancing up from his shoes, Draco found himself in a clearing in the woods. A quick glance at the trees and ground showed that it was obvious that some powerful magic had been performed here. The realization came sharply in focus in Draco's mind: this must be where Harry Potter and Voldemort had their face-off-the same place where Draco's mother had lied to Voldemort in order to be reunited with, him. Her son.

Tears sprang to Draco's eyes. Why they did, he had no idea. His gaze fell to his shoes again as he turned and walked back toward the edge of the woods, dragging his feet again.

Clearly he needed to find a way not to hate himself so much. Had he always hated himself like this and was just realizing it? Or was this something new? He wasn't sure. He supposed he always hated his father. But his father had always been easy to hate, not that Lucius knew his true feelings, of course. Draco had perfected the art of Occlumency and Legilimency at a very early age thanks to Snape coming around to tutor him as a child.

And that's when he saw it. Something black glinted at his toe as he walked even though hardly any sunlight reached the forest floor here. Draco took a quick step back and bowed his head. The black thing seemed to glitter a little. Squatting down, he gingerly lifted the black shining thing in his long, delicate fingers. It was a stone that was oddly square, as though it had been cut as a precious stone might be.

Draco held it up to the trees and though no new light hit the stone, it glinted as though it was in direct sun. But as Draco watched, the sun seemed to shut off and the stone no longer shone. It was as dark as it should be.

A familiar chill came over him. It was the same chill he'd gotten when he had successfully performed his first spell at age six. It was the same chill he always got when he realized something was potentially powerful.

Though he didn't realize it, Draco Malfoy had just found the Resurrection Stone.

He pocketed it in his school robe and quickly strode back up to the front entrance of the castle.


	35. Occlumency and Legilimency

An unfamiliar black owl dropped a letter onto Harry's empty plate and soared back through the high open window without stopping.

"Tea?" Hermione asked Harry as he opened and read his letter. Ron was leaning down close to his breakfast, eating quickly as usual.

"Mm. Thanks," Harry said without looking up. Ginny sat next to Harry, one leg tucked under her as she read the Daily Prophet, eating her toast in small bites. Hermione watched Harry as she poured the tea. She thought of those nights with him in the tent after Ron had left. She could no longer recall Ron leaving, but she definitely remembered how kind Harry had been to her after. How he'd wrapped her in a blanket as she sobbed as she was still soaking from the rain.

Could that be what the dream had been about? How he cares for her?

"Woah, careful there," Harry said, flicking his wand before his over-poured tea spilled onto the table.

"Sorry, I was just thinking about something," Hermione said quietly, setting the teapot down with a dull thud.

"When are you ever not?" Ron said with his mouth full of bacon.

"Oh Hermione had a sex dream this morning," Ginny said off-handedly without looking up from the Daily Prophet.

"Ginny!" Hermione swatted Ginny's hand.

"What?" Ginny shrugged. Hermione glanced to Harry and then to Ron. Ron had stopped eating and Harry was sitting very still. "Oh you three need to relax. I mean… come on…," Ginny said, "It's no big deal."

"I- er-" Harry said, standing and stepping back over the bench, "I have to get ready to teach-" He glanced toward the huge double doors to the Great Hall.

"Harry, sit down and finish your breakfast," Ginny said, pulling him toward her by his hand. He did as she asked. It was quiet for a few minutes before Ginny broke the silence, "Sorry, I guess I never quite got the dynamic between you three…"

"It's okay," Hermione said at the same time that Harry said, "It's nothing." Ron said nothing but only continued eating, though it was quite obvious that his ears were beet red.

Hermione tried to push the thoughts of her dream away but they kept pushing back. She tried to recite the first page of _Hogwarts, a History_ to herself in her head but the dream popped into her head again like a movie: silk sheets and the look on Harry's face in her mind's eye kept rewinding and replaying itself. What was wrong with her?

After it was quiet for a moment, Harry cleared his throat as though he meant to speak. Hermione looked up, as did Ginny.

"The owl was from Rita Skeeter. She wants to do a follow up on the end of the battle…"

"Oh, do you think you'll do it?" Hermione asked. Ron was listening for his answer, but Ginny seemed to have lost interest and instead was reading again.

"I don't know. I guess so?"

"Is there anything else to say though? It's over, isn't it?" Ron said, taking another bite of his eggs.

"I suppose…" Harry shrugged.

Hermione's mind was wandering which was an unusual feeling for her. Her period was almost a week late and it never had been before. Not since the first time she'd gotten it during second year. Does pregnancy cause sex dreams? She made a mental note to check the library for medical texts.

Ginny was the one to break the silence again, "Oh, by the way there's going to be some sort of memorial service on Halloween out on the grounds. In the Forbidden Forest I think? Luna told me."

"I don't want to do any more funerals. We've had enough of that at the beginning of summer, didn't we?" Ron said, shaking his head as he looked down at his empty plate.

Hermione shrugged, "I suppose it'd be good to go but it isn't being led by a professor. The flyer on the board in the Common Room only said it was being led by Slytherin… Sounds a bit odd to me."

"I'll go. I should go," Harry said, glancing at Ginny and then down at his tea and then back at Ginny again. He gave her a half-smile and nodded a little awkwardly. "Well, I've finished my breakfast, Miss. May I be excused?"

Hermione was instantly, inexplicably jealous of the smile that Harry and Ginny then exchanged.

"Yes, you may," Ginny said, leaning forward and pecking him with a kiss on his cheek, "You've been a good boy. Now go teach your naughty students not to do any dabbling in the Dark Arts."

"Yes, Miss," he said. Hermione watched Harry's face fall slightly as he looked back across the table to Hermione and Ron, "See you."

"Ehm," Hermione said and coughed. Ron slapped her back a few times as he obviously assumed she was choking. "Thanks," she said quietly to Ron.

"Well, shall we head off to the greenhouses?" Ginny said, folding up her newspaper.

"You go ahead, Gin," Ron said, "Hermione hasn't touched her breakfast. We'll see you there."

"Right-o," Ginny said, and she got up from her seat and left. Hermione looked down at her plate and felt a little nauseous.

"So, what's wrong?" Ron asked as Ginny walked away.

"Nothing's wrong," Hermione replied immediately, almost as a reflex.

"'Mione."

"Ron."

"Fine, I'm not going to do this thing that girls do to perfectly well-meaning blokes. You just tell me when you're ready then, yeah? I can wait."

"How would you even know-" Hermione started but stopped herself. Was Ron comparing her to Lavender Brown? Lavender was dead… did that mean Hermione wasn't allowed to be annoyed any longer by the fact that they'd dated? "Oh, never mind." Hermione swung her leg over the bench so she was facing away from Ron, gathered up her bag and stomped away. Ron quickly caught up.

"Alright, I'll play," Ron said and pulled her bag from her shoulder and carried it for her without asking if she wanted him to. It was simultaneously annoying and sweet. "What's wrong? Please, tell me what's wrong. Was it something I said? I'm sorry."

"Why must something be wrong?" She wished Ron wasn't so observant when it came to her. He wasn't a really observant person when it came to school. He only ever seemed to notice things he wasn't supposed to.

"Is this about your sex dream that Ginny mentioned? Are you embarrassed or something? You know, I've had those dreams about you loads of times. I had the first one about you after the Yule Ball of course. I had a dream that you came to me afterward and-"

"Such things just, just, they're not proper to talk about, alright! Anyway, that's not what's bothering me. Please, drop it. I'll tell you later," Hermione said, feeling her face redden. She was very aware of how they were walking amongst the other students in the hallway. As Head Girl and Head Boy they really shouldn't be talking about such things at all, let alone where anyone could hear.

"Oh, okay. Got it. Sorry," Ron said quietly. They didn't speak again until they were just about to enter the greenhouse when Ron leaned close to her ear, brushing tendrils away as he whispered, "I just hope that the dream was about me and not, you know, someone else." Hermione tripped to a stop when he said this. He let her stop and he went ahead and sat down next to his sister in the greenhouse. Hermione pretended to be looking for something in her bag, took a few calming breaths, and then walked slowly to the seat next to Ron and sat down.

* * *

Harry's morning with the third and then the fourth years passed quickly. The older students took their studies a little more seriously than the younger students and were ready to learn. There were a few questions about his past year but nothing that he wasn't prepared to answer this time.

As he walked to lunch, his mind strayed to Hermione. He suspected that the dream had been about him and not Ron. He wondered if his Memory Charm over the summer had worked on her but there was no possible way to find out, short of using Legilimency on her.

He could come clean and just tell her the truth too, he knew. But who would benefit from that? Hermione seemed happy. A little confused this morning, yes, but happy generally.

Was he only being self-centered? Knowing Hermione, she probably spilled that tea this morning because she was thinking about how she hadn't finished her second full-read of the herbology textbook prior to class or something.

Still, Harry was dreading seeing her for some reason. Especially with Ron around. What if his instinct was right and it was about him?

Was he only turning into his father? The thought simultaneously made him feel a little proud and completely arrogant. Was he-Harry-simply being egotistical in thinking that everyone around him was so effected by him?

Harry veered off toward the front double doors of the Entrance Hall before entering the Great Hall for lunch. It wouldn't kill him to skip a meal. He ate more at Hogwarts in one day than he had in a week sometimes at the Dursleys.

A walk by the lake would help clear his head… The day was cool. It felt like autumn.

Far on the other side of the water, Harry could spy Dumbledore's grave. Harry squinted in the weak sunlight as he walked and found himself thinking about the Deathly Hallows.

Harry knew that there were so many details from this past year that he hadn't yet let himself think over or really process at all. It was all a jumbled mess inside of a locked box in his head. But this one thing, while he was alone for now, he decided he'd let himself think about.

Dumbledore knew that Harry would have to willingly sacrifice himself for the horcrux inside him to die. So Dumbledore wanted Harry to be the master of death in order to have a better chance at survival. Because why? Because he felt guilty? Because he loved Harry?

"Why didn't he just tell me? Why make me…" Harry whispered to himself as he came nearer to the Whomping Willow, making sure to keep a safe distance from its branches, "I refuse to believe he didn't know…"

It crossed Harry's mind-only just for a second: where had he dropped the Resurrection Stone? Maybe he could ask Dumbledore some more questions… He suddenly felt something akin to panic. So many people were gone… so many answers were gone…

"Alrigh' there Harry?" came a familiar voice from some metres away off toward the Forbidden Forest. Harry's gaze snapped up and as expected, Harry saw Hagrid.

"Hagrid, hello!" Harry said, in a falsely cheerful tone. He strode toward Hagrid. "Yes, I'm alright. Was just thinking some things over."

Hagrid was carrying a few dead rabbits toward his hut. Harry caught up with him and tried to match pace. It was only just possible because Hagrid was walking slowly.

"Yeah," Hagrid said, once Harry had caught up with him, "I 'spect you have lots o' thinkin' ter do. What, after last year and all."

"Mm. Beautiful day, isn't it?"

"Yes, great day to be finishin' up some o' the gardens for the summer."

"I wouldn't know much about that. Unless you are working on muggle flowers… My aunt had me tend to hers from time to time."

"Muggle flowers? No, can't say I've got any o' those," Hagrid chuckled, "Can I offer yeh some tea?"

"I think I probably should be getting back up to the castle for my Transfiguration lesson, but thanks, Hagrid."

"Well, take a rain check then, 'arry. And," Hagrid patted Harry on the shoulder, "Don't worry yerself thinkin'. What's done is done. And there isn't anythin' ter do 'bout it."

"Thanks," Harry said, smiling. He didn't really know what Hagrid was trying to say, but Harry didn't ask. He really did have to go because the bell was sounding. Hagrid and Harry waved to one another and Harry hurried back up to the front entrance.

Harry was only just in time for the start of class. He took a seat alone in the back. Hermione was in her usual seat near the front and Ron was next to her. Ginny sat behind Hermione. And on the professor's desk in the front of the room, the Sorting Hat sat unmoving.

"Good morning," said Professor McGonagall. "This is a very important year for all of you. It is N.E.W.T. year. I expect a lot from each and every one of you. It is my fervent wish that you do not disappoint me and do not disappoint yourselves." She scanned the room and then let a small smile play at the corner of her mouth. "Now, yes, you will notice that all four houses are combined for this class. Normally I would have you split by two houses each but as I am splitting my own time between continuing to teach as well as acting as Head Mistress, I saw fit to combine this class as there are only twelve of you continuing with your N.E.W.T."

Harry glanced around and found that indeed, Zacharias Smith was here. As was Luna. And Draco Malfoy…

"With that out of the way, let's get started. I am going to use the Sorting Hat to sort you into pairs. I will start with the back corner and work my way up until everyone is sorted. Come on then, Potter. You first."

Harry shrugged and got up. He supposed in the past this sort of thing would have made him nervous, but why be worried? What could this possibly entail?

As he walked to the front of the classroom, Professor McGonagall continued speaking to the class.

"You will be partnered with one other student until Christmas break, wherein you will then take your midterm examination. After break, you will have a new partner. This is because the magic that you will be performing necessarily requires a person to perform it on and not an object or animal."

Harry stood at the front of the classroom, facing the class. He crossed his arms over his chest. As Professor McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat onto his head, he was surprised that it seemed to fit now.

He hoped he wouldn't be paired with Seamus just because he didn't particularly fancy a new life as a partially transfigured toad or water goblet.

"Ahh, Mr. Potter," said the Sorting Hat inside Harry's head. "What secrets have you? They fester like an unhealing wound. I think it best…" and then aloud, the Sorting Hat announced: "Hermione Granger!"

Harry felt his heart plummet into his stomach. Why did this have anything to do with festering secrets?

He wished that the summer had never happened.

"Next, Mr. Thomas." Harry walked back to his seat without looking at Hermione, or anyone else.

After Dean was paired with Seamus, Luna was paired with Ron.

"Mr. Malfoy," called Professor McGonagall. Malfoy stood with the hat on his head for at least a whole minute before it came to a decision.

"Ginny Weasley," said the Sorting Hat. Harry's automatic reaction to this news was that he should try to stop it and protect her, but as he watched him take his seat again, he knew that there was nothing to do. Ginny didn't seem fazed at all, nor did Malfoy.

Soon, everyone was sorted into pairs.

"Now, for the duration of the semester, in addition to the course work normally assigned, you and your partner will be learning to perform Occlumency and Legilimency. In light of recent events, I have been contacted by multiple different departments at the Ministry asking that we begin teaching this to our N.E.W.T. students. As Occlumency is traditionally a Transfiguration of the mind when you attempt to close it, it has been added to this course instead of Defense Against the Dark Arts."

She flicked her wand and instructions as to how to perform Occlumency and Legilimency appeared on the chalkboard, written in blue chalk.

"Potter, you've done this before. Please come to the front of the class."

Now Harry really was nervous. As he made his way back up to the front, he glanced at the other students and ended up catching Ginny's eye. She winked at him. Harry pretended he didn't notice.

"Right, on the count of three. One, two, three."

"Proteg—" Harry began but Professor McGonagall was too fast. She was turning pages in his mind: she saw him break his leg in the stairs, saw him repairing the wall the muggle way in his parents' house in Godric's Hollow, saw him in bed with Ginny at the Burrow, he dropped the Ressurection Stone in the forest…

"Protego!" Harry slammed the pages of his mind shut. McGonagall stumbled back from the force of his spell.

"Well done," she said, righting herself from where she'd tripped back onto her desk. Her eyebrows raised as she gazed at him. Harry looked away, blushing at what she'd seen. He half wondered if she hadn't been somehow looking for such memories. Was it possible? Snape had never given him much instruction other than to simply close his mind… "Though I should remind you that when you take your practical examination for N.E.W.T.s, no verbal spells are allowed."

"At all?" Ron asked loudly.

"At all," said Professor McGonagall, "As you already had ample instruction in nonverbal spells during sixth year, this should not come as a shock. You may be seated again, Mr. Potter."

Harry walked back to his seat slowly without looking up. He felt as though the whole class had just seen him bare-bottom paddled by her. Really, no one really knew what she'd seen (though a few guessed, they didn't know they were right) but Harry was still uncomfortable with the feeling of his mind being opened up like that.

"For homework, read the chapters on Legilimency and Occlumency and write twelve inches on appropriate and inappropriate spells to protect against Legilimency to be submitted to me by next week. You will have a practical exam with your partner just before Christmas break on these topics as well as the other things we learn in the next weeks leading up to the exam. If you have time, I highly recommend reading ahead in your text during the semester as these topics are so challenging that they are beyond the magical scope of some witches and wizards.

"Now, you may use the rest of the period practicing. I will critique as I see necessary. Up and off you go."

There was the familiar groan of twelve wooden chairs against the cold stone floor as everyone stood. Then, the low mutterings as everyone found their partners. Harry couldn't help but watch Draco as he muttered something to Ginny, who tossed her shining red hair over her shoulder. She meant business.

"Right," said Hermione from Harry's right. He turned to face her. "Shall I go first? I've been practicing closing my mind since having read the chapters a few weeks ago but I can't be sure I've done it properly as I don't think anyone's tried to-"

Harry stepped out in a dueler's stance and hit her with the silent Legilimency spell. She stumbled and fell to the ground from the power of his spell, which surprised Harry. But then he realized he'd never actually done this to anyone before.

In Hermione's mind, Harry saw her cooking fish in the tent over the winter while watching Ron sleep, his arm still badly wounded from splinching… he saw her sitting in the corner of what looked to be a primary school classroom, the other girls taunted her about her wild hair and her buck teeth… it was dark and she was multiplying jars of blue flames, she saw Harry ahead, in bed…

Without any sign that she was fighting back, he lifted the spell from her.

"What, what was that?" Hermione said. Harry stepped forward and offered his hand and helped her up. "That last one."

"Search me," Harry said. He glanced over at Ron. He was laughing at something Luna had said and she was laughing too.

"I just need to gather my wits about me. Give me a moment," Hermione said, rubbing her back. "I don't remember falling. You caught me quite unaware, Harry."

"Sorry." He was watching Draco and Ginny, who were on the other side of the room. She was kneeling down before Draco, who was lying on the floor in profile to Harry. She offered Draco her hand which he clasped and together they stood. Harry gritted his teeth and looked back down at Hermione.

"You alright?" Harry asked.

"Yes, thanks." She nodded. "Wow, that spell is a lot more powerful than I'd imagined. Like being punched. It'd an odd feeling, the intrusion into your mind. I'm glad I was paired with you and not someone I distrust."

"Yeah," Harry said, tapping her shoulder a few times in a poor show of solidarity. Harry watched as Hermione glanced at Draco and Ginny and then she looked quickly back at him. Harry shrugged.

* * *

In the memory, Ginny watched from Draco's point of view. It was the first day at Hogwarts and he was very nervous. Crabbe and Goyle were nearby but he wished they'd go away. They were difficult to carry on a conversation with.

Ahead, Draco saw the famous Harry Potter for the second time ever. Since meeting him in the robes shop, he soon after realized who he'd been speaking to. He'd promised himself that he'd try to make friends with him at school, even if Father did disapprove. Mother would think it was a great idea when he told her.

"So it's you, is it?" Draco was saying. Unfortunately, Harry was looking at Crabbe and Goyle though… Draco introduced them rather than be rude and tell them to leave. But then Ron laughed at Draco's name… Draco had always been embarrassed by his name. He wished he just had a normal name. He promised himself over and over since he was very little that he'd never name even a dog such a name as Draco or anything like it. Ever.

As soon as Draco held his hand out to Harry though, he knew he'd made a mistake. He wasn't sure what he'd said wrong. Father was always talking about those Weasleys and their recklessness at having so many kids with no way to pay for them all. Didn't everyone think so? He'd never known Father to lie…

But Potter seemed to have already befriended the Weasley. Just as well… if he wanted to have a charity case following him around, it wouldn't be Draco's problem…

And then Ginny lifted the Legilimency spell from Draco. He'd fallen to the floor.

"So I'm a charity case, am I?" Ginny said. She was kneeling over Draco.

"I'm not eleven anymore, so no you're not a charity case," he said. He took her offer of help and stood up again.

"It's alright," Ginny said, smirking at him. "I'm sure you're bound to see something equally as embarrassing… it's alright, have a go. It's your turn-"

* * *

As Hermione stepped back and raised her wand, Harry realized how incredibly bad this could go. What if one of them were to shout out to the class something that Hermione was supposed to have forgotten? What if Hermione remembered just enough of her tryst with Harry over the summer to start talking to Ginny, or worse, Ron, about it? What should he do?

Well, the only thing Harry had ever bested Hermione at when it came to studies was defensive magic. He'd just have to keep her from getting into his head. And he'd certainly have to be a lot more careful about what he looked at in her head.

She cast the spell and immediately a memory that Harry had all but forgotten flicked into the forefront of his mind.

Aunt Petunia was scolding him for not getting the dishes clean enough. She'd woken him from a nightmare and he'd wet the bed. She made him strip the sheets and wash them himself before getting up to scrub the pots and pans. It was the middle of the night…

Then another memory-Harry was in Godric's Hollow. Ginny was holding him as he cried.

With that, he firmed slammed her out of his head. She stumbled back from him.

"Wow Harry," Hermione said, righting herself. He knew she wanted to hug him but he didn't want her to. He gave a faint shake of his head and she simply half-smiled at him, as though she pitied him.

For once, he promised himself, he was going to try as hard as he could at Occlumency and Legilimency.


	36. Into the Slytherin Common Room

Harry managed to keep Hermione out of his head for the double period of Transfiguration, but only just. He knew she'd want to study together probably every night… He hoped he'd have lots of reasons to evade her.

From Transfiguration, he said goodbye to Hermione and Ron. After watching Ginny talk with Draco for a few minutes, he headed to the Owlery and sent a reply letter to Rita Skeeter. Then, he sent a letter to Andromeda before heading to the third floor to the Arithmancy classroom. It was time to meet Professor Vector for his Defense Against the Dark Arts independent study.

"Hello, Professor Potter," said Professor Vector. She stood when he entered the classroom and her overlong red velvet robes billowed behind her as she strode forward.

"Hello, Professor Vector. Nice to meet you," Harry said. He shook her proffered hand.

"So let's be brief. I know we're both quite busy. Please have a seat," she said quickly. She had a loud, clipped voice that Harry oddly appreciated. He knew she wouldn't mess about just by her tone. Harry sat in the nearest seat and she sat down at the desk in front of him, turning the chair to face him.

"This will be a true independent study." She pulled a paper from her pocket and began unfolding it. "You will come to this classroom only for a final exam during my office hours the week of finals before you sit for N.E.W.T.s. You won't have a midterm exam." She laid the paper down in front of him and Harry looked down at it. There was a date at the end of the school year written down at the top of the page. Other things were written down on the paper too, but he looked back up at her when she continued to speak. "Your final will be practical examination only. I assume you have the text required. Instead of a written midterm and final or any sort of formal classes, after reading each chapter, you shall write thirty-six inches in summary with anecdotal or researched evidence of the efficacy or lack thereof of the spells, enchantments, counter-enchantments et cetera of the chapter. You may owl or deliver each of these in person as you desire, or deliver them all at once once you are finished completely. There will be no time constraint for these. They simply need to be finished by the end of the year. If you need assistance, please come to my office hours which are actually right now for the next two hours once a week. Any questions?"

"Er…," Harry looked down at the paper again and skimmed it. It seemed that everything she just said was written on this paper. _Thirty-six inches_. There had to be more than twenty chapters in the text, though he hadn't checked for sure. He thought it would probably have been easier to actually take the class instead of independent study. At least this wasn't Neville's tactic. "No. No questions. Not yet anyway."

"Well then, good luck to you this year," she said and stood up once more. She offered her hand again and Harry quickly shook her hand as he stood up from his chair. He took the paper and folded it as he walked out of the classroom.

At least it was quick. He automatically walked back downstairs to the Great Hall where dinner was in full-swing.

"Get the wrong time?" Ron asked as Harry sat down across from him. Hermione sat next to Ron.

"No, she's just very—"

"Smart," Hermione interrupted, picking up her glass of water. "I really appreciate her way of getting to the point."

"She just assigned me all my work for the whole year. I can turn it in whenever I want. I just have to do the final in person and it's a practical exam only."

"Well, that's not so bad, is it?" Ron said, raising his eyebrows.

"Wow, that'll take quite a bit of discipline," Hermione said. Harry glanced around and noticed that Ginny wasn't anywhere to be found at the Gryffindor table. He was worried for a second that maybe she was sick when he finally spotted her.

She was at the Slytherin table. Leaning over and talking to Draco Malfoy. Her back was to Harry but Draco was clearly smiling.

Harry inexplicably felt his blood run cold at the sight of this.

"What's wrong?" Ron said almost at once.

"Hmm?" Hermione asked.

"Are you going to be sick, Harry?" Ron asked, ignoring Hermione.

"No, I'm fine. It's nothing."

"You look as though you've seen a ghost for the first time," Hermione said. Harry looked up and his gaze gravitated to Ginny again. "Oh," Hermione said plainly.

"Oi! Gin! What the bloody hell are you doing over there?" Ron shouted. Hermione tried to shush him but it was no use. Harry was embarrassed but also relieved that Ginny was being called away.

Harry watched as she shook her head at Draco and then turned and walked back to the Gryffindor table. She sat down next to Hermione. "I was just having a chat," Ginny said by way of explanation.

"Of course," Hermione said immediately. It was dead silent between them for a while until Ron spoke again. He was talking to Ginny about Quidditch try-outs. Harry glanced up and saw that Hermione was watching him surreptitiously from over her plate. She had a book open next to her plate.

"What are you reading?" Harry asked her quietly as Ron and Ginny spoke loudly.

"It's just Transfiguration…" She gave a look as though to ask, "Are you alright?"

Harry just huffed out a breath and looked back down at his plate.

* * *

The next day after their first quadruple potions class, (Slughorn beamed at Harry, "Good to have you back for one more year, Harry," and offered him some crystallized pineapple three times), Harry was following behind Ron and Hermione as the two held hands on the way to lunch. Juggling his ink, quill and text, which he hadn't gotten stuffed back into his bag yet, he dropped his ink. It shattered spectacularly against the stone floor and all over Harry's shoes and the cuffs of his trousers.

"Shit," Harry said under his breath as Hermione and Ron turned toward the sound.

Hermione immediately drew her wand and _Reparo_ ed the broken ink. Harry drew his wand and let the rest of his things fall to the floor.

"You two go on, I'll just clean up."

"Are you sure?" Ron asked. "Hermione's great at that syphoning charm…"

"Mm, I'm sure she is. Really, go, I'll catch up in a minute."

"Alright," Hermione said. Ron took her hand again and they continued down the hall and up from the dungeons to the Great Hall.

It only took Harry a couple of minutes to clean the ink from his shoes and trousers. He stuffed his belongings into his bag and stood up.

As he started down the hall toward the stairs, he passed an intersecting hall. He almost missed the whispers because of the sound of his own quiet footsteps as he walked. If he hadn't recognized his own name in the familiar voice that was speaking, he probably wouldn't have heard her.

He stopped on the bottom stair and turned back around to the intersection of the halls and glanced down to the left and right, hiding mostly behind the wall.

Down the hall to the right, he saw Ginny as he knew he would. But what was she doing so close to the entrance of the Slytherin Common Room?

She was leaning back on a stone arch in the hall, one knee bent so the ball of her foot rested back against the wall too. She was smiling.

Harry inched a little further out and saw who she was talking to. It was Draco Malfoy. Harry was angry that he was standing there watching her talk to him. Why did she have to smile at him? Why did she make him stand there, hearing her say his name in a soft whisper to Draco Malfoy? What was she doing there anyway?

Harry couldn't help it. He was staring at them. Draco leaned down toward her as though to tell her a secret, but of course they thought no one else could hear them anyway, so why lean so close? He smiled at her and she laughed and arched her shoulders forward as though trying not to double over from how funny he was.

Harry felt himself scowl. He hated himself and hated Draco Malfoy more than he ever had. And that was saying something.

And dare he allow himself to realize it? He felt a little pang of hatred for Ginny then too. Hadn't only been yesterday that she tried to sleep with him in the Defense classroom? Was she trying to make him jealous? If she was, it was definitely working.

But she thought she was alone with Draco, so of course she wasn't trying to make him jealous. She was being secretive. Perhaps even trying to… what? Two time? Get over Harry?

 _Maybe_ , said a small voice in Harry's head that sounded a little like Hermione, _they are just bonding over being Occlumency partners and she's just being nice and this doesn't mean anything…_

But then they both turned away from Harry toward the entrance of the Slytherin Common Room and Harry saw plainly that Draco guided Ginny with his palm on the small of her back. She went into the Slytherin Common Room with him.

The door shut behind them before Harry fully comprehended what he'd just witnessed. He wanted to go after them but he wouldn't be able to get in as he didn't know the password. Also, he would have had to admit he'd been spying on them.

Harry turned and walked slowly to the Great Hall. Why hadn't he just slept with her yesterday when he'd had the opportunity? Had he thought she'd appreciate some stupid act of nobility? What had he been trying to prove?

He probably only embarrassed her, he realized now. She was getting back at him the easiest way she had available to her. Draco was a free agent… Ginny was a pureblood after all, even if Draco did have a history of calling her whole family traitors… they now called themselves traitors too, didn't they?

This, Harry thought, was a poor way for Draco to repay him for his freedom. He should have let the Malfoys rot with the rest of Voldemort's followers. A family of ferrets, the lot of them.

* * *

"Right, ready?" he asked. She and Draco had decided to take twenty minutes every day before lunch to practice Occlumency together rather than trying to do it in large chunks of time since they'd have so much other work to do for N.E.W.T.s.

Ginny didn't respond. Instead, she silently cast the Legilimency spell. She was immediately inside Draco's mind.

She saw Snape over top of him, gently singing some sort of charm… the pain was easing…

She saw Hermione punch him square in the face. He tasted blood…

He was a ferret, bouncing up and down, the cackles of students' laughter surrounding him.

"Enough!" he shouted. He'd thrown the spell off using Occlumency. "Are you trying to find the most embarrassing things that have ever happened to me or does it just happen naturally for you?"

"You can _try_ to find memories?"

"Of course you can." Draco cast the spell and flicked through her mind, memory after memory flew to the forefront of her mind until he found one that interested him. It was a memory of this morning. Ginny was showering in the Gryffindor girls' bathroom…

Ginny pushed his spell away faster than she ever had.

"Please don't go looking for memories of me while I'm naked," Ginny said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Then don't look for embarrassing ones in my head."

"I didn't mean to!"

"Right, I don't believe you," he said between his teeth.

She cast the spell on him again. This time, she tried to look for a happy memory. It worked. She found one: he was riding a toy broom around the empty halls of Malfoy Manor. A buxom woman was laughing and trailing after him.

Ginny lifted the spell before he had a chance to fight it.

"Who was that woman?"

"My governess, Mrs. Kirkson."

"You had a governess?" she said, stifling a laugh.

"Of course I did. You don't realize how much-"

She cast the spell on him once more.

This time she tried to look for another happy memory. She saw Narcissa making sparkling silver fireworks from her wand. They were in an English Garden on the grounds of Malfoy Manor. It was dusk but it was warm… the middle of summer.

Draco fought off the spell with Occlumency.

"How are you able to look at one memory for so long?" Draco asked.

"I don't know. How are you able to flip through memories so fast like that?" Ginny asked, shrugging.

"I don't know. I don't do it on purpose."

He cast the spell on her. This time, he happened to catch the kiss that she and Harry shared before Ron came barging in-the one before he left to hunt for Horcuxes. He quickly switched away from it and found Quidditch. She was riding on a broom around the Burrow. It wasn't her broom…

She fought the spell off once more.

"Sorry, didn't mean to get another personal memory in there. It must be a subconscious thing I'm doing."

"It's because you think I'm pretty, don't lie," Ginny said jokingly.

Draco didn't say anything to this but only raised his eyebrows.


	37. Stars at Noon

As Harry slid down onto the bench in the empty seat next to Hermione.

"I need to talk to you," he said to her quietly. Ron was talking to Dean and Seamus about Quidditch and wasn't paying attention thankfully.

"What about?" she asked in a careful tone. Harry started shoveling food onto his plate. He didn't care what it was. He glanced at her, unsure what to say. He didn't want to say Ginny's name so close to Ron, even if he wasn't paying attention.

"Never mind, I think I know."

"You do?" As Harry picked up his fork, he had a brief moment where he felt like he could see himself. He hated himself for how pathetic he felt in that moment. He wished he could have been talking to Hermione about something really important and world-altering. Like that Voldemort was trying to kill him again. What he wouldn't give for Hermione to tell him to block his mind against Voldemort, or instead give him that worried glance because his scar was hurting him again.

But no, this worried glance was over a girl.

"You know what," Harry said. He felt his heart lighten for the first time in weeks. "I'm done playing this game." He grabbed Hermione's wrist and pulled her up. "Ron, we'll be back in a minute," Harry called. Ron held his hand up in a gesture that he'd heard him.

Harry half-led, half-dragged Hermione from the Great Hall.

Once they were out in the hall, he led her outside and down to the edge of the lake so they couldn't be overheard.

"Listen," he said huffing out a deep breath of air.

"I'm listening," she said breathlessly.

"I'm done messing about," he said. He watched her for a moment. He'd been sure that he was going to be totally honest a minute ago before he'd dragged her out here, but now he wasn't sure. He'd wanted to tell her that he'd just been spying on Ginny and Draco, but he also wanted to tell her about the summer and how he'd taken her memory and how he'd turned Ginny down yesterday when he really shouldn't have. Or maybe he should have? He had just wanted to be free of it all, to not have to think or worry about it anymore.

But telling Hermione would certainly not help him that way.

"You're messing about? With Ginny you mean?" Hermione asked, crossing her arms over her chest even though it was a balmy afternoon.

"Yes. You know what? Forget I said anything. I'm just being strange," he said, and started coughing. He cleared his throat. "Let's go back inside."

"What? A minute ago you looked like you'd just figured out that you saved the world and now you look like you're in pain again… goodness, are you alright?" Harry had started coughing again and still hadn't stopped as she said this.

And then, Harry coughed up blood and spat it to the ground.

"Merlin! What is wrong, Harry?!" Hermione said, laying a hand on his back and grabbing his arm to steady him as he coughed up blood again.

Harry had no idea what was wrong, but he couldn't tell her this because his mouth was full of blood. He felt overcome with dizziness then and knelt down. He saw a mermaid swim up to just under the surface of the lake and gaze at him.

"Let's get you to the hospital wing. Shall I levitate you?" Hermione was looking over her shoulders and up to the stairs but no one else was around. Everyone else was eating lunch still.

"No, don't. It'll draw too much attention. I'm fine, really. I probably just accidentally got something in a cut in Potions or something."

"Of course! Yes, of course, Harry. Shall I take you to Professor Slughorn?" Hermione had a hand on his arm and a hand cuffing the back of his robes.

"No, let's see Madame Pomfrey. She won't make a big deal of this. Really, I'm fine. You don't need to grip me so hard."

"Put your arm around me then," she said, "Then if you start to fall, you can grab me."

"No. That's not necessary." They started towards the steps but Harry's vision started to go black. He was seeing stars. He took a few deep breaths and Hermione held him tighter as they stopped.

"Just have your wand ready, alright?" Harry said. Together, they started their way up the steps.

* * *

"Thanks for practicing with me," Ginny said.

"It was a good idea," Draco said, shrugging, "and it's helping me as much as you… I should thank you."

"So then thank me," she said, lifting the strap of her bag to her shoulder as she followed Draco out of the Slytherin Common Room.

"Thank you," he said flatly.

"You're welcome." It was quiet for a moment as they walked together up the steps toward the Great Hall. Ginny was lost in thought. It was amazing how seeing inside someone else's mind could make you understand that person so much better.

She couldn't believe it, but she was actually feeling a bit sorry for Draco and his upbringing. She understood his supposed derision for Harry now, anyway… it was all pretend. Draco actually liked Harry and had wanted to be his friend. From Draco's point of view, it was Harry who had prevented it.

She started to wonder if Draco couldn't have been an asset to Harry if Harry hadn't been so stupid to outright reject him before even getting to know him. Maybe Draco would have been nicer, a more sympathetic person in general? He may have started questioning his father's politics a few years earlier than he did, anyway. Maybe Draco could have even acted as a double agent somehow…

Further than that, she'd never noticed: Draco felt as lonely as she did most of the time. Sure, he'd had friends, but they were vapid, small-minded friends. Friends who had really only used him for lust or power...

"Can I ask…" Draco drawled slowly. "The last memory… was that? Well…"

"It wasn't real. I'm not like, secretly married or something." She laughed. "It was something I saw when I was on Wizard's Weed. Have you ever done it?" she answered too quickly. She'd been too far inside her head, thinking about him.

"Wizard's Weed? No. I haven't."

"Well, it's good fun if you don't take it too seriously, but it's almost impossible not to take it seriously."

"Have you ever done Hush?"

"No, I haven't even heard of that. What's Hush?"

"It's a Middle Eastern thing. It's related to Wizard's Weed but when you take Hush, it's supposed to make you more spiritual somehow. I've never done it. I guess it was big during the first time the Dark Lord… er, Voldemort was in power."

"I see. That's interesting. Do you know anyone who's done it?"

"Blaise Zambini has done it. He likes it… would you like me to get you some?"

"Yeah, why not? How much is it?"

"I have no idea, actually," he said slowly, grinning, "The first one will be on me though, alright? As a present for, well, for keeping my secrets for me."

"I don't know any secrets."

"Not yet. But you will, I'm sure."

"Ha, we'll see about that."

Ginny caught sight of Hermione and Harry then as she supported him up the stairs. "See you later," she called to Draco as he walked into the Great Hall. Ginny hurried up the stairs and quickly caught up with Harry and Hermione.

"What's wrong?" she demanded immediately.

"Harry's ill," Hermione explained. Ginny held his other arm and walked with them.

"I'm not ill, I'm fine. I probably just had a bit of poison in Potions or something," Harry said. Ginny could hear in his voice that he didn't believe even himself but she wasn't going to point this out now.

She gritted her teeth and said instead, "What's wrong? Why is their blood on the front of your robes? And what's that black on your trousers?"

"He was coughing up blood," Hermione said.

At the same time, Harry said, "I dropped my ink. Must have missed some."

"Coughing up blood. That sounds serious," Ginny said quietly.

The three walked on with only the sound of the Great Hall behind them for a while longer.

"Hermione, you should go back and tell Ron what's going on. He's probably wondering where we are."

"Oh, he'll be fine," Hermione said immediately.

"So will I," Harry said.

"Well…" Hermione said. And she gently let go of Harry as they reached the landing of the stairs. "If you're sure…"

"Quite sure. I'll see you later on. I won't be in the hospital wing long anyway. I still have my office hours to hold."

"Right. Okay. Well, I'll check on you later, alright?" Hermione said. She gave his arm a light squeeze and then went back down the stairs.

Harry felt awkward with Ginny there helping him. But even so, he still felt calmer with her around. Like she was the key to unlocking the good part of him, despite all the sadness and uncertainty she was causing him anymore.

Harry realized that was the real trouble. If he didn't feel better when she was around, there wouldn't even be a problem. He'd get over her the way he he'd gotten over Cho. Quickly and completely.

The phrase, 'still have feelings' didn't nearly encompass how he felt about her.

He thought about how he'd felt when he kissed Hermione the first time. Yeah, it'd been awkward, but also, it wasn't bad. It didn't feel wrong, not totally anyway. How could he have felt that way with Hermione if he felt like this towards Ginny? Had he only been using Hermione as a placeholder for Ginny? Or was Hermione who he really was meant to be with and Ron was in both of their ways?

It didn't matter, Harry realized. The answers to those questions were doomed to never be found out. He couldn't change anything: at least this feeling wasn't new to him.

They reached the hospital wing. It appeared to be deserted. Ginny led him to the nearest bed and he sat down. She knelt down before him.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, laying a hand on his forehead. He'd seen mothers do this in Muggle movies before and as a child had always wished someone would do that to him. Aunt Petunia certainly never did… on the rare occasion that Harry was sick as a child, Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had acted as though he'd done so on purpose only because he apparently wanted to get Dudley sick…

"I'm fine," Harry said, swallowing.

"You know," she whispered in his ear, "The offer still stands. I know the best ways to make you feel better, Potter." She leaned back on her heels and winked at him.

Harry's heart leapt in hope and surprise.

"What, right here? Bloody and on a hospital cot?" he said quietly back.

"What's going on here?" Madam Pomfrey strode out from her office at the back of the room, "Potter? It's only the third day of school! Already here? Blood down your robes… It's not even Quidditch season yet!"

"He just started coughing up blood out of nowhere. He said he thinks he might have eaten some poison accidentally or something," Ginny explained.

"No I thought I might have gotten something in a cut during Potions."

"What cut?" Madam Pomfrey asked. Harry held up his hands and flipped them over and back again. There wasn't a cut there.

"Well, maybe I did eat some poison. I don't know," Harry said, shrugging.

"Well, Miss Weasley, that'll be all. Thank you," Madam Pomfrey said, shooing her away. Ginny winked at Harry before she left.

"Put this under your tongue," Madam Pomfrey said, holding up her wand. Harry did as she said though she'd never done this before to his recollection (though, he admitted to himself, he was usually unconscious when he first arrived here).

After a few minutes, she pulled her wand out of his mouth and shook it like an old-fashioned thermometer. It shot out dark blue sparks.

"Just what I thought," she said, nodding and looking him up and down like she was scanning him with her eyes. Then she said, "I got a report from St. Mungo's the other day that you'd visited over the summer because of a broken leg."

"Oh, yeah, I'd forgotten," Harry said.

"I believe you have Hexed Soldier's Heart. Also known as PMTD-Post Magical Trauma Disorder."

"Oh." Harry had no idea what this was, of course.

"There isn't a cure," said Madam Pomfrey. "I'm afraid the only thing for it is therapy."

"Therapy?" Harry repeated blankly.

"Yes. You're getting physical ailments as a result of psychological trauma and turmoil that you're attempting to ignore. It isn't healthy and your body is magically trying to tell you that you're sick by actually letting itself become sick."

"Really?" Harry thought about getting up and just leaving. He was supposed to be in his office in case any of his students wanted to visit for his office hours right now.

"Really," she said seriously, folding her hands in front of her. "Would you like to start now or wait until tomorrow? If you don't deal with whatever is troubling you, the physical problems will only get worse until… well, they quite possibly will kill you."

"Right." Harry, of course, didn't believe her. He'd never heard of this before. Why didn't anyone else have this if he did? He stood up. "Am I free to go?"

"Not yet."

"Okay." Harry sat down on the edge of the bed and waited.

"Please come three times a week after supper. We'll talk for no less than a half an hour to an hour. Agreed?"

"Madam Pomfrey, I mean no disrespect, but this is N.E.W.T. year… and I'm teaching half the Defense classes…"

"If you don't have your health, Mr. Potter, none of those other things will matter much." She hitched her hands to her hips. "If you don't want to have therapy with me, I can arrange for a healer to come but it might be expensive."

"No I'm fine talking to you. It's fine. What days would you like me to come?"

"Well, it'd be best to start as soon as possible. How would tonight suit you?"

"Sure," Harry shrugged.

"Good, then I'll see you around seven or so. Now you're free to go."

Harry stood and immediately went back to the Defense classroom. He felt fine.


	38. After Office Hours

No one came to his office hours… unless they came in the first twenty minutes and he missed them while he was leaving the hospital wing and changing his clothes and cleaning the blood from his face, but Harry doubted it. It was only the end of the first week of school, after all. Harry supposed that no one needed help yet.

Though, he reminded himself, he couldn't recall ever going to any professor's office hours even once. Detention, yes, but never office hours.

The three hours were almost up and he'd almost finished his first chapter's parchment for his own Defense homework when he heard a soft knock at the door.

"Enter," Harry called while he scribbled down the last sentence of the thirty-six inch homework. So someone did need help after all. Bad timing, he thought, but maybe they had a class before this?

When he looked up though, he didn't see one of his students. He saw only Ginny.

"Harry..." she said as she walked slowly forward. "I wanted to know how you were doing. Are you alright? I went to the hospital wing but she said she let you out hours ago."

"She said I had the magical form of PTSD."

"What's PTSD?" she'd reached his desk and stood opposite him. He felt odd sitting at the teacher's desk and stood up.

"Sorry," he said shaking his head, "It's a mental problem-"

"You're hearing voices or something?" she said, smirking. Harry walked around his desk so he was facing her.

"No. Not yet anyway."

"Oh, well that's good."

"No, apparently I got sick because I'm not dealing with the trauma of my past or some rubbish."

"I see." She reached forward and traced the seam along the collar of his robe.

"I don't mean to pry," he said evenly, "but what the bloody hell were you doing with Draco Malfoy earlier? I saw him lead you into the Slytherin Common Room."

"Were you spying on me?" she asked, letting her hand drop. Her eyebrows furrowed. Was she angry?

"I just happened to walk by and I saw you. Answer the question."

"We were practicing Occlumency. Nothing more. What do you care anyway?"

"Of course-"

"You think I'd throw myself at you and then do whatever you're thinking with Malfoy the next day?" She shrugged and pressed her lips together. "No, sorry, _the same day._ "

Harry watched her face as she grew angrier. And he realized that maybe instead of therapy, he just needed to let go. Let himself get messed about by Ginny Weasley. Drink the Firewhiskey that was locked up, tucked away into the bottom of his trunk. Don't take the coming N.E.W.T. exams so seriously and the fact that he already failed to become an Auror so seriously. Don't take _anything_ so seriously.

He wasn't making life and death decisions anymore. Not for him, not for Hermione or Ron. Not for anyone. Who would care if he lived a little? No one at all, right?

And then Harry took two steps forward, grabbed Ginny and kissed her.

He didn't think. He could only act. She responded immediately, wrapping her arms around him and pressing herself against him. Soon, she jumped up and wrapped her legs around his waist and he stumbled forward, belatedly grabbing her under her thighs. Luckily the door was shut. He turned and propped her up on the edge of his desk.

After he pulled her school robes off, he pulled up roughly at her t-shirt and then pulled it up over her head.

Part of his brain was yelling at him to stop this. He didn't know if he'd recover from a causal one-nighter with Ginny at this point (or ever). But he ignored that part of his brain. It was time to choose happiness, even if it was only very temporary happiness.

Ginny pulled out her wand and Harry was surprised for a moment and stepped back, dropping his hold on her. She grinned wickedly, making her white lace bra look too innocent for her. She only flicked her wand toward the door and he heard it lock. Then, she dropped her wand behind her to the desktop and pulled Harry back to herself.

He kissed her as he unhooked her bra. Then, he bent and kissed the tops of her breasts while he pulled her bra down from her shoulders.

"Harry," she whispered.

"What, love?" His voice was muffled because his lips were still against her skin.

"I'm so sorry-"

"You want me to stop?" he asked between kisses.

"No, of course not," she said laughing.

"Good."

He found her mouth with his again and kissed her deeply. Without thinking, the hand that was under her thigh slipped further forward under her skirt and his fingers slipped into her.

"Harry-" He couldn't tell if it was a plea or a warning.

"Yeah?" he asked as he felt her. He grinned at her and she shut her eyes and rested her head against his neck…

One of her hands moved down to the hem of his shirt. He let her pull it off of him along with his school robe.

Then, she held tightly around his shoulders as he undid his trousers with one hand. Shutting his eyes, he pressed his lips against the crook of her neck he pushed into her.

"Oh," she whispered. She grabbed the messy tufts of hair that always stuck up in the back of his head and tried to rock with him. He watched as she shut her eyes and leaned her hands back on the desktop to steady herself…

Afterward, Harry and Ginny collapsed down to the floor. Awkwardly, he turned and pulled her onto his lap and laid back on top of their dropped school robes.

Ginny laid her head on his shoulder. They didn't speak for a while, until Ginny sat up suddenly.

"Where's my wand?"

"Oh, the charm?" Harry asked. He'd nearly dozed off.

"Yeah, it won't work if you don't do it within a half an hour. That's what the book says."

"Right... _Accio_ Ginny's wand," Harry said. He knew he wasn't doing the spell properly as his own wand was in his back pocket. And yet, Ginny's wand flew down from where she'd dropped it on his desk and flew to Harry's hand. Surprised, Harry handed the wand to Ginny.

"Look at you. The great Harry Potter also performs wandless magic."

"Only when I'm not trying."

"How often do you try though?"

Harry shrugged.

She performed the charm and her skin glowed green for a moment. It made Harry notice how very dark it had gotten. It was dusk already.

"Come up to my room with me. Let's go to bed." Harry leaned forward and kissed her temple.

"I shouldn't. Besides, it's too early to be in bed. We should go eat dinner."

"Nope. It's never too early for bed with you. I'll get Kreacher to bring us food."

"Ron and Hermione will wonder where we are and I don't want anyone to know about us. Not yet. It's too much pressure."

"So... Ginny, just to clarify, we're not back together." Harry sat up and pulled his t-shirt back on.

"What?" She stopped dressing and stared at him.

"Right, sorry. I don't mean to hurt your feelings, and you probably think I'm a prat for saying this, but I don't think we should get back together. I'm not interested in trying to get you to be serious."

"You've thought about this." She continued dressing again.

"Haven't you? You're the one saying I was too serious. I completely agree. We were moving too fast. I'm not ready for a wife and kids and a cottage in the country either, alright? Let's just mess around and have fun. It's what people our age are supposed to do."

"Oh." She crossed her arms over her chest and looked down, and then picked up more of her clothes quickly once she noticed them and continued dressing. "Okay. Yeah. That's fine," she said without looking at Harry. He'd stopped dressing though and was simply watching her.

Harry wanted to yell at her for being confusing but he clenched his teeth together instead. But then he realized that he was holding back again. Is this why he had gotten sick? "You're so confusing," he said quietly, shaking his head.

She didn't seem to have heard him. Once she pulled her school robe back on, she looked up at him and half-smiled. "Finally, you're speaking my language, Potter. This was fun. I like having fun with you."

"Right." Harry suddenly felt tired. And old. Ginny nodded, kissed Harry's cheek and they started walking toward the door to go to dinner.


	39. Muriel

Harry ate dinner quickly. Ginny ended up not coming down, saying that she had homework that she wanted to get started on. And because Hermione and Ron had apparently already eaten, he ended up sitting next to Neville at the head table.

They talked mostly about Herbology and the nets that Neville had made for the Alihotsy trees. He'd found a spot not far from Hagrid's cabin that would allow the right amount of light. Harry was to help him plant some of the trees at his next Herbology lesson.

After dinner, Harry reluctantly made his way back up to the hospital wing. At the door, because he'd been walking with his head down, he ran into the person coming through the door.

"Sorry-Hermione?" he said, grabbing her arm to steady her.

"Oh, sorry Harry," she said, taking a step back to steady herself. "Are you coughing up blood again? What's wrong?"

"No, I'm fine… what are you doing here? Are you alright?"

"Oh, yes," Hermione said, glancing behind her toward the hospital wing and then back at Harry, smiling. "I'm taking a little magical health course with Madam Pomfrey. I realized over the course of this past autumn and winter that our education in the magical healthcare department is sorely lacking, so I thought I'd take a small independent study just to fill in the gaps."

"Really? It's N.E.W.T.s year," Harry said, his eyebrows furrowing. But he smiled at her. "Only you, Hermione, would ask for extra work during what's supposed to be the hardest school year."

"Ha, I suppose." She looked him over. He could tell by the look on her face that she was still wondering what he was doing there. He let her wonder for a few more seconds.

"Madam Pomfrey said I have magical PTSD. I can't remember what she called it."

"Post Magical Trauma Disorder?" Hermione asked immediately.

"Yep that's the one. So I'm to attend therapy three times a week with her."

"Well, that's good," Hermione said bracingly. "Get your demons out."

"I've already gotten Voldemort out of my head. How many more demons could fit in there?" Harry asked flatly. Hermione laughed.

"Well, I'll see you," Hermione said, "Ron'll be waiting for me." Harry was annoyed to notice that she was blushing.

"Right, see you," Harry said quickly, not meeting her eyes. They stepped around each other and Harry entered the hospital wing.

* * *

Hermione let the Room of Requirement door fall shut behind her. Ron was there sitting on the stone floor of the empty room. Behind him high on the stone wall, intricate clerestory windows, which had to be at least ten feet in length, shown deep purple and red as the sun was just finishing setting. The low light in the room made Ron's hair appear to be glowing a deep crimson.

"Good, you got my owl," Hermione said quietly, taking a step forward. "Sorry I wasn't at dinner. I went to see Madam Pomfrey about something."

"No problem." Ron shrugged. He had an arm draped over one knee and seemed the picture of ease.

"Right." She crossed her arms over her chest. She knew he was waiting for her to speak but she wasn't ready yet.

"I wasn't sure what you'd want to ask the room for," Ron explained, getting up from the floor and dusting himself off, "so I didn't ask for anything other than what you see." He took a few steps toward her until they were only a few feet apart. He slid his hands into his pockets.

"You asked for that?" Hermione asked, gazing up at the beautiful wall of windows high on the wall.

"Yeah," Ron said shrugging. "I asked for something pretty to let in the sunset."

"But you didn't ask for a place to sit?" Hermione raised her eyebrows, smiling. Ron laughed, shaking his head. As she said it though, a cushy sofa similar to the one in front of the fireplace in the Gryffindor Common Room appeared nearby. They both glanced at each other and then Ron followed Hermione to it and sat down next to her. She wished she could feel as calm as he looked. He leaned back on the sofa and draped an arm casually behind her, waiting for her to speak.

"I didn't get to tell you before in the broom closet…"

"Yeah?"

"And well, I know I mentioned before, when we were in Australia… I…"

"You're pregnant." It wasn't a question. She nodded. He pulled her into his arms. "I realized it during dinner while I was thinking about our trip to Australia… It's going to be fine. Just sooner than we would have expected is all."

"Yes, well," Hermione started but then broke down. She sobbed into Ron's chest. He held onto a handful of her hair and rested his cheek on the top of her head.

"Shh," he said softly.

"I can't believe how plainly foolish I am," she said as she cried.

"I didn't do anything to help it either. It's no matter. We'll be fine. Don't worry. I love you."

"We only did it the one time! It's not fair," she said, shaking her head.

"When have you and I ever had it easy, 'Mione? It wouldn't be us if it didn't happen this way, yeah?"

"But… but exams..." she said wiping her eyes and looking up at him.

"Exams will give you something to think about instead of this. We can get married over Christmas instead of after school. We can go to Australia so your parents can be there and won't have to travel."

"No, I don't want to Apparate… what if I, well mess it up…"

"Oh, yeah, good point. Well, no big deal. We can side-long Apparate them here. It'd not a big deal. We'll figure it out. We've faced bigger demons."

"I've never been more frightened in my life, Ron," she whispered, pulling out of his embrace. "We're totally unprepared for this. We haven't got any money, or a place to live, or jobs. What will we do with the baby while we're starting out next year in jobs for the first time?"

"You're still going to work?" Ron asked, genuinely confused.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I?" Hermione asked, also genuinely confused. "Oh, Merlin, see?! We are totally not on the same page. I'm not going to be a housewife. Why don't you stay home with the baby instead? What's the difference?"

"The difference is I won't have milk coming out of my body."

"Ron!"

"Well, you asked what the difference was… that's it."

"I should have known you'd be juvenile about this," Hermione said, standing.

"I'm not being juvenile," Ron said evenly, standing up as well. "You made me step into that one. Are you saying you wouldn't breastfeed?"

"I can't believe we're having this discussion right now!" Hermione hid her face in her hands.

"Well believe it, because we are. You're just over a month along, right? That means you'll be due in… May."

"Just before exams," she whispered.

"Wow that's bad timing." Ron paused, thinking. "It's no matter though. You should still be able to take exams anyway, even if you take them a bit late or early. We'll talk to McGonagall."

"Oh, Ron, think of it. Me waddling around the halls, enormous. I can't be Head Girl and pregnant… what kind of example would that set? I'll have to drop out…" Hermione dropped back down onto the sofa.

"There are ways of hiding it. You can wear charmed clothes that will make people not notice the baby bump. You'll look the same as you always do."

"How do you know that? I've never heard that."

"Oh, well you won't find that in a school book. Mum always would talk badly about witches that did that… not that I think badly of them. I never understood it really." Ron crossed his arms over his chest. "I think she was just sensitive about being on the plump side, generally-"

"Right. No one else needs to know other than us. Don't tell your mother."

"Did you tell Harry?"

"No, and I'm not going to. I just saw him before coming here and made up a terrible lie about taking a class with Madam Pomfrey. He probably saw right through me. He was on his way to see her for therapy."

"Therapy?" Ron asked, sitting down next to Hermione again.

"Yeah he has Post Magical Trauma Disorder apparently. You didn't know?"

"No. Haven't seen him much since classes started."

"Yeah, me either."

"I guess that's how it'll be now, with the baby coming and all." He leaned back and slid down a bit on the sofa.

"Oh God, Ron, don't talk like that," Hermione said, shaking her head.

"Sorry… You know one thing I know we'll agree on though?"

"Hmm?" Hermione leaned her head on Ron's shoulder and he absent-mindedly laid an arm around her shoulders.

"Harry will have to be the godfather."

"Sure. That's an easy one."

"And if it's a girl, we'll name her Muriel."

"Ha, you're so funny."


	40. The Stag and the Maiden

"Right, so same time on Monday then, Mr. Potter," said Madam Pomfrey as Harry was leaving the hospital wing.

"Right."

"Oh, and Mr. Potter, one more thing," she said, "I am going to ask Professor McGonagall if you can borrow the pensive in the headmistress's office-"

"Oh, no need, I commissioned one over the summer for Hermione. Ollivander made it with her. I'm sure I can use it… what for?"

"Hermione _made_ a Pensieve? When was this?"

"Er, last week?"

"Oh, goodness. She should have told me."

"Why?" Harry asked. He realized he probably shouldn't ask but he was caught off guard by how worried Madam Pomfrey seemed.

"Sorry, but it's no matter to you. Don't worry. Anyway, Potter, I think it'd be good for you to remove some of your heavier memories until we get through a few sessions. Just so you're generally happier and calmer."

Harry thought there was no way he was going to leave memories lying around. He knew firsthand how easy it was to fall into someone else's memory. "Mm. I'll take it into consideration," he lied. With that, he went back to the Defense classroom and up to bed.

By noon the next day, Harry had had a long breakfast with Andromeda and Teddy at her house and then met Rita Skeeter at the Three Broomsticks.

He'd spoken for over an hour with Rita, and her questions touched on a lot of different subjects (Death Eaters, the trials, his time in the tent, the horcruxes…). But then, just as it seemed they were finishing up, she asked a fairly innocuous question about Azkaban and Harry found himself railing against the use of dementors on prisoners for at least fifteen minutes. He hadn't planned to say it, let alone with any force, but he'd had three butterbeers. Anyway, he was glad he did. It had been something that always bothered him since he learned what the things were back in third year. Rita's quick quotes quill was practically smoking by the time they both stood, shook hands and parted ways.

Walking up the grounds through the front gate, Harry saw Ginny sitting under their favorite tree from sixth year. She was reading a book, sitting cross-legged on the cool early September grass. It was a little breezy today but still had a bit of warmth in the air.

She looked so innocent, sitting there in jeans and a jumper. Harry watched her long red hair catch the breeze and flick itself over her shoulder.

He stared at her for too long: she looked up and saw him. Then, she waved and closed her book as Harry walked closer.

"Admiring the view?" she asked as he sat down across from her.

Harry glanced at the lake and then back at her.

"Mm. You're pretty," he said simply and shrugged.

"Thanks," she said without looking up.

"How did the first Quidditch practice go this morning?"

"Fine."

He waited for her to elaborate but she just kept reading. "Are you mad at me for yesterday?" he asked, gazing out at the lake.

"Mad at you for what?" she asked, still without looking up from her reading. Did she really not remember? He told her he didn't want to get back together. He realized now that he'd said it only to try to hurt her. It seemed he was actually only hurting himself.

"What are you reading?" Harry asked, sliding the book away and flipping it so he could see the front cover. " _Hogwarts, A History?_ You know only Hermione finds this book interesting and no one else, right?"

"How would you know if I like it or not? You don't even know me, Potter." She took her book back and opened it, flipping through until she found her page again. Harry watched her for a minute before speaking again.

"You are mad at me. I did hurt your feelings." He took his glasses off and rubbed his nose. He was getting a headache.

"No, I just don't like it when people take my book away while I'm reading it."

"You called me 'Potter'."

"So what?"

"You know, I should probably just stay away from you. I think it'd be best for both of us." Harry said, sliding his glasses back on.

"Why do you always have to be so serious?" She kept her spot with her finger pointing at the word she stopped at when she looked up at him this time. "Just shut up for a minute until I finish my chapter. Lie down next to me and take off your glasses again. It'll help with your headache."

Harry wondered how she knew he had a headache but didn't ask. After all, he was supposed to shut up now. He did as he was told and took off his glasses and laid down in the grass next to her.

He watched the sun glitter between the leaves. He listened to them rustle in the wind. The lake was lapping quietly against some rocks nearby. The grass was cool and dry underneath him.

He didn't notice right away, but his headache slowly ebbed away.

"Right," Ginny said quietly awhile later. She shut her book with a soft thud sound. "Come here," she said, sliding her hand in his. Reluctantly, he stood up with her (he'd nearly fallen asleep) and let her lead him away.

"Gin, why are we headed toward the Forbidden Forest?"

"Wanted to try something new." She looked back at him and smiled as she led him. Her copy of _Hogwarts: A History_ was tucked under one arm.

Hagrid could be in here. Centaurs could happen by…

"I, er…" Harry began.

"Trust me, alright?" she whispered. They were making their way into the Forest. They weren't on a trail at least. She wasn't slowing down. Her footsteps were light on the fallen twigs and leaves. She seemed to belong here.

Suddenly, she stopped, turned and thrust him up against the closest tree. She was still smiling.

"Right," she said again, raising an eyebrow as she held his gaze for a moment. "You won't be needing these," she said, taking his glasses and folding them so they hung on the collar of her jumper. Then, she opened her book and pulled out a small bag of what looked like dried basil leaves.

"What's that?" Harry asked as he watched her pull her wand from her back pocket and point it at a fallen twig nearby. "What are you doing?"

She didn't answer. Harry watched as she transfigured the twig into a rudimentary pipe. Then, she took a dried leaf out of her bag, snapped her book shut again and stuffed the book under Harry's arm. After rolling the leaf with two fingers, she stuffed it into the end of her twig-pipe. Then, using her wand, she lit it up.

After taking a deep breath and slowly exhaling, she said, "It's Hush."

"Hush," Harry repeated. "Where did you get that? We're going to get expelled."

"No we're not. I'm with a professor," she said, smiling broadly at him. "Harry, you've got to try this."

"I don't think so."


	41. Upon the Altar

"Just one puff," said Ginny.

"What does it do?" Harry eyed the pipe curiously.

"It makes you spiritual."

"Spiritual? Spiritual how?"

She stepped forward, pressed up against him so he was pinned between her and the tree and then held the pipe up to his lips.

Gazing down at her, he took a drag from the pipe. Immediately, he felt calmer. He felt happy.

"Do you hear that?" Ginny asked, her eyes twinkling like Ron's would on Christmas.

"What?"

"Do you hear that?" she asked, giggling.

"No… wait, yes I do." He heard a crowd of people laughing and talking. There were people singing songs together. There was a party somewhere in the woods. He took her free hand in his and led her deeper into the forest. "Let's find them."

"Yeah, let's find them," Ginny said, giggling again. She started skipping. Harry glanced back and smiled at her. His vision wasn't blurry anymore even though she still had his glasses.

Soon they were in the clearing where Harry had come to die. They stopped on the edge of the clearing and watched the gathering, arm-in-arm.

In the middle of the clearing, there was a huge stone table, like an altar, raised up on a natural mound of earth. Harry guessed it was at least as wide as he was tall.

All around, probably a hundred or so people were drinking and eating and dancing and making music with medieval-looking harps and lutes.

"It's a party," Ginny said, whispering. Harry felt the hairs on the back of his neck raise up. They weren't safe. They needed to leave.

"Gin, let's go," Harry said firmly, taking her hand again and trying to pull her away.

"No, Harry. Come on," Ginny said, pulling against him. But then, they both stopped because everything else stopped. Everyone in the gathering turned and looked at Harry and Ginny.

"They see us. We weren't invited," Harry said quietly. Ginny seemed frightened but Harry could tell that she was trying not to show it.

"It's fine," Ginny said, finally pulling her hand from Harry's.

Then an older man from near the altar said, "The Stag and the Maiden are here! Let them come forward."

Harry and Ginny didn't move. But then hands were on them, a lot of hands. Harry and Ginny were pushed forward toward the altar. Ginny fought against them, so four men picked her up and placed her upon the altar.

"Transform into your Animagus form, Stag," the man near the altar commanded to Harry.

"Er, I think you have me mistaken with someone else," Harry said, not wanting to mention that maybe the man thought he was his father, James, somehow. He reflexively reached up toward Ginny and tried to pry her away from the men holding her down to the stone. But of course he wouldn't be able to get her away. Not without magic. She met his eyes and clenched her teeth.

He reached into his back pocket but his wand was gone.

"Onto the altar, Stag," the man commanded. And then, Harry had transformed into a Stag, like his father's Animagus form. He had no idea when or how it happened. Could someone else make you transform? How would he ever become human again?

When Harry tried to fight off the hands that were pushing him up to the altar, he reared up onto his hind legs and bucked their hands away. Then, with his antlers, he pushed the men away from Ginny. She was ghost white and wide-eyed.

Harry jumped up onto the altar and stood next to Ginny.

Instead of being frightened by him, they all applauded and made cat-calls and hollered.

"Good, good," the man said.

The four men came back up to Ginny and started tearing and pulling at her clothes. Harry tried to antler them away but it was no use. There were too many. Ginny started screaming for them to stop…

And then, Harry was flat on his back in the center of the clearing. He opened his eyes and saw that he was naked and human. Next to him, Ginny was also naked. And she was unconscious.

"Ginny!" Harry called in a whisper, shaking her awake. "Ginny, wake up!"

She only moaned a little.

"Wake up Ginny!"

Her eyes flew open. For a second, he remembered her as she was in the Chamber of Secrets after she woke up from Riddle's Diary.

"Oh Merlin, Harry," she said, sitting up and noticing that she was naked. She hugged herself. "I'm sorry… I didn't know."

"It's okay," he said reflexively. He stood and helped her up. She shivered and re-crossed her arms over her bare chest. It was already getting dark this deep in the woods. They needed to find their clothes soon if they were going to find them tonight.

Harry took her hand in his and led her back the way they'd come. He found his wand and trousers first. Before he even put his trousers back on, he took his wand out.

"Accio Ginny's clothes in the forest," Harry said, and then, "Accio my clothes in the forest." The clothes all came flying toward them. They dressed quietly as darkness continued to encroach on them. Silently, she handed him his glasses and he shoved them onto his face.

"Do you have your wand?" Harry asked her once he was dressed.

"Yes."

" _Lumos_ ," Harry said, and then he looked down and saw Ginny's _Hogwarts: A History_ book lying a few feet away. He picked it up and tucked it under his arm. Then, he grabbed her hand and, with the same arm that was carrying her book, he led the way with his wand light.

They didn't speak until they were out of the forest again and half way around the lake back near the castle. It was dusk. Harry wondered if it was still dinner time.

"I'm so sorry Harry. I thought it was safer than that."

"If you'd been trying to hurt me, you wouldn't have done it too," Harry said kindly. He leaned over and kissed her hair, which was thoroughly dirty and even had leaves in it.

"What was that? Do you think it was real?" Ginny asked him.

"I have no idea what that was. But I'll definitely never be doing Hush again."

"Neither will I," Ginny said, "I'm just relieved that I did it with you and not someone else."

"Yeah," Harry said. But then he started wondering. "Where did you get that stuff anyway?"

"You'll just be angry if I tell you."

Harry glanced at her. "So Seamus then? Or Dean? Or Draco? Which of your little boyfriends should I be jealous of now?"

Ginny didn't say anything.

When they came back inside, the Great Hall was emptying out. They watched as the remains of dessert vanished from the tables.

"Well." Harry looked down at Ginny and she looked up at him. "Sorry. It's not your fault you're so pretty."

She rolled her eyes and then reached up to his hair, "You have twigs all through your hair."

"So do you," he said. He couldn't help but smile at her. "Come on, I have an idea."


	42. The Prefect's Bathroom

After Ginny followed Harry to the Defense classrooms, and Harry got his Invisibility Cloak out, they snuck up to the Prefects' bathroom together. There was no one there, so they drew a bubble bath and got in.

"Mmm, this is nice," Ginny said after they'd washed each other's hair. She was leaning back against Harry's chest.

"Yeah." He could barely concentrate on what she was saying. Having her pressed up against him was making it difficult.

"You okay?" she asked. And as she turned around to face him again, she noticed what was wrong. "Ah, Harry. Why didn't you say anything?"

"Just ignore it."

She shook her head and then kissed him slowly. Then, just as slowly, she led him to the stone steps on the edge of the huge pool-like tub that they were in. Wrapping her arms around him under the water, she pressed up against him as they kissed again.

"Do you think," Ginny said against Harry's lips, "That was some kind of Pagan ritual in the forest?"

"I have no idea," Harry said, slowly feeling Ginny's curves as he spoke.

"I read that the founders were Pagan, which makes sense," she whispered, leaning slightly back so she could talk more easily. She was playing with Harry's chest hair.

"Do you think it was real?" Harry asked, surprised to realize that she seemed to think so.

"I thought… I think they wanted you to… perform some sort of ritual on me... in your stag form."

"I don't have a stag form," Harry said, "This is the only form I come in."

"Mmmm…"

"None of that was real, Gin. It was a hallucination, nothing more."

"Well, I'm glad I did that with you. I trust you, Harry. Completely. I know you'd never hurt me."

"Well…" Harry was about to tell her that he loved her but stopped himself. "I trust you too." He nuzzled his face down onto her breasts. It was comforting after such a strange afternoon.

He listened to her breath quicken as he felt down her curves and between her legs. He couldn't help but look up at her when she held onto him more tightly, her breath quickening with his touch.

"You're so beautiful, Ginny," Harry whispered. She kissed him hard, reached down, and then guided him into her.

She moaned into his mouth as he pushed into her again. She laid her forehead against his.

But as he pushed into her again and again, he grew angry at her. How could she enjoy this—enjoy _him_ —this much and not love him? This wasn't just sex. Not for him.

He thrust into her as hard as was possible in the water. But then he grew frustrated with Ginny being on top. He lifted her out of the water and sat her on the edge of the pool and then lay her down on the cool stone floor, all the while, he was moving in her.

"Oh, Harry," she said, her eyes fluttering open as her fingers raked over his chest.

"Do you like this? This hard?" he asked her. He thrust into her as hard as he could. She nodded feebly. He found a quick, punishing rhythm. But the harder he did it, the more she came undone. Then, as he pushed her legs down with each of his hands to try to push deeper into her, she came around him.

Feeling her come immediately put Harry over the edge too.

He picked her up in his arms and waded back into the water. He sat her down on his lap as they both caught their breath.

"I will definitely never forget this day," she whispered against his chest. He laughed.

"Yeah," he agreed.

But then Harry heard the door unlock despite having locked it. He stopped Ginny from moving, reached out and grabbed the Invisibility Cloak and threw it over both of them just in time. Quickly, he flicked his wand with a nonverbal _depulso_ and their pile of clothes flew across the room and behind a shower curtain.

Hermione walked into the room and flicked her wand. The tub began to drain. Harry quietly moved his hand over Ginny's mouth.

"'Mione, can we just talk for a minute, please?" Ron asked, following her into the room.

"What else is there to say?" she asked him. She flicked her wand again and the candles were all extinguished. Then she began pacing around the room.

"Well, I don't know. How are you feeling?" Ron followed her. They passed by within a foot of Harry and Ginny. Harry was glad that the Invisibility Cloak worked in water. He couldn't recall ever testing that out before now. It appeared that they were not displacing any water when, in fact, they were.

"Why shouldn't I feel fine?"

"Well, you made a Pensieve and hurt your chest and now… well, this." He gestured to her so she stopped and faced him.

"I'm right as rain, Ronald." She crossed her arms over her chest. "Come on, we still have the rest of Gryffindor tower to patrol and I'm tired."

"See? You're tired. Let me do the patrolling. You go to bed early."

"If I don't patrol, people will know something's up."

"No one would notice except maybe Harry. And anyway, he's all the way down in the Defense classrooms. He doesn't even know we patrol every night probably."

"Fine," Hermione said quietly.

"Good," Ron said brightly. "Do you want a cup of tea or anything?"

"No, thanks, Ron," Hermione said. She grabbed his hands in each of hers and then tilted her head up so that Ron would kiss her.

Ron kissed Hermione, just a peck. But then another peck. And then she wrapped her arms around his neck and they were really kissing. Harry looked pointedly away from Ron and Hermione.

"Come on, Ron, get me to bed," Hermione said between kisses.

"Mm, I like the sound of that." He kissed her again.

"Get used to it," she said as he moved to kissing her neck, "You're going to get to see me to bed every night for forever pretty soon."

Harry's heart twinged a little at the thought of that.

"I can't wait," Ron said earnestly. He moved back up to kissing Hermione's mouth but then when he went to touch her chest, Hermione winced.

"Sorry, did that hurt?" Ron said immediately, backing away half a step. "Is it your chest?"

"It's just, I'm a bit sore," she said. "It's not your fault."

"Come on, I've kept you here long enough," Ron said, and with one more quick peck to her cheek, he led her out of the Prefect's bathroom.

Once they were gone, Ginny let go of Harry and sleepily reached for her wand and did the Contraception Charm on herself. Meanwhile, Harry pulled the Invisibility Cloak off of them, got up and re-lit a few of the candles.

"That was close," Ginny said once she'd done the charm.

"Yeah, it would have been hard to explain."

"Right," said Ginny, as she pulled on her underthings, "Since we're not together."

"Right," said Harry. He dressed quickly and tried not to watch Ginny finish dressing.

"I don't care if you look," Ginny said, "For a man who's trying his hardest to turn me into a slag, you're quite a gentleman."

"Er, thanks."

"Sure," she said, flicking her wand at the re-ignited candles. They extinguished once more.

"Do you want to come down to the Defense Classroom and sleep with me?"

"'I thought that's what we just did?"

"I meant actually sleep together," Harry said, watching Ginny dry her hair with her wand.

"That's not what people who aren't together do. So no, thanks."

"Right." He forced a laugh out.

"But," Ginny said, "You're a great shag anyway, Potter. So thanks for this," she said smiling and pointing to the pool-like tub. She'd finished drying her hair so she walked back to Harry and kissed him on the cheek.

"G'night, Gin," Harry said, kissing her quickly on the lips. He watched her leave.

A few minutes later, Harry headed back toward the Defense classrooms, his Invisibility Cloak slung over one arm. Really, he told himself, this can't happen again. Not ever.


	43. It's Got to be at Dawn

Harry lay in bed, reliving the last few hours in his head. What was Hush, really? Was that real? And how could Ginny be okay with telling him that she trusted him completely but then refused to ask him to be exclusive?

Harry sat up in bed. Bilius hooted, startled.

Was she sleeping around? She was insulted before at the insinuation that she would be. But would she? Was she?

Harry thought about how Draco had touched her back as he'd led her into the Slytherin Common room. Draco Malfoy wouldn't have touched, say, Hermione. Or Ron, for example. You only touch someone that way that you're comfortable touching.

Was Draco Malfoy the one who gave her Hush? Had he hoped to get her naked while high on the stuff, as Harry inadvertently achieved?

Harry's stomach churned at the thought of it.

He fell asleep just before dawn and slept until Hermione was standing over him, shaking him awake.

"Harry, wake up," she said.

"What? What's wrong?" Harry said groggily, shoving his glasses on his face. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Ron and I are going to Hogsmeade. Do you want to come with us?"

"What time is it?"

"Nearly eleven. You missed breakfast."

Harry's stomach rumbled. He was starving. He'd missed dinner the night before and now breakfast.

"Yes, I'm coming along. Give me a 'mo."

* * *

Harry trailed behind them on their way down to Hogsmeade. It was odd how he had never felt like the third wheel before this year and now, every time he was alone with the two of them, he felt completely out of place.

Once they made it down to the Three Broomsticks, Ron and Harry went up to the bar to order three butterbeers and sandwiches for lunch while Hermione sat down in case she was "tired" (Ron had insisted).

"I'm going to have it out with Draco Malfoy," Harry said under his breath to Ron as stood and waited at the bar. Ron was watching Hermione, who looked bored.

"I thought you and him were mates now," Ron said sarcastically.

"He… Merlin, I can't tell you this. Nevermind," Harry said. Madam Rosmerta came back with the butterbeers. Harry took a swig of one while they waited for the sandwiches.

"Well now you've got to tell me. What'd he do? I'll hold him down for you while you block his ears."

"Alright, I don't know if I should tell you this, but Ginny and I… er…" Harry glanced over at Hermione again. "Hermione—"

He strode quickly to Hermione, who was holding a hand to her chest. Ron was close behind.

"I'm just a bit short of breath, that's all. I'm fine."

"You're not fine," Ron said quietly as he knelt down at her side. "I'm going to take you to Madam Pomfrey. Or we could Apparate to St. Mungo's."

"Are you still getting chest pains from making the Pensieve?" Harry asked.

"Mm. Yes, it's just from that. I'll be fine in a minute," she said breathlessly. Both boys hovered over her, waiting for her instruction. She took a few deep breaths and rubbed her chest lightly with her palm. "See, it's fine. The pain passed."

"Are you sure?" Ron asked. He seemed scared.

"Yes, quite sure. And I'm quite ready for a butterbeer and a sandwich."

"I don't know if you should have a butterbeer—" Ron started. Harry went back to the bar and brought back their food and drinks and then sat down across from Hermione. Ron slid in next to her and gingerly laid his arm around her shoulders.

"A bit of alcohol never hurt anyone."

"But, 'Mione," Ron said, glancing at Harry.

"Oh, really, you know how much I read. I know the dangerous effects of alcohol for various medical issues, believe it or not. But if you insist Ron, I'll have something else to drink."

"Good," Ron said. He got up and a moment later, after Harry and Hermione had started eating already, Ron came back with a glass of ice water.

"Thanks," Hermione said.

"Anything you need, 'Mione. Just say the word," Ron said.

"Thank you, Ron. That's really sweet," she said, grinning at him and then kissing his cheek.

"You too are going to put me off my food," Harry said, only half joking.

"Sorry, mate."

They ate quietly for a few minutes. Then Ron said, "Oh, what were you going to tell me up at the bar? Something about Malfoy? And you and Ginny?"

As Ron spoke, behind him the door opened and Harry watched as Ginny entered with none other than Draco Malfoy himself. Harry looked down quickly before he could make eye contact with either one.

"It's nothing," Harry said pointedly. Ron looked around and saw them. Then, he leaned forward toward Harry.

"Perfect timing."

Hermione glanced between the two boys.

"Ron, don't. You're Head Boy, you can't go bullying Malfoy just because you don't like him. You won't help anything," she said, grabbing his arm to make him stay next to her.

"She's right. Anyway, I am the one that wanted a go at him." Harry got up and strode purposefully over to Ginny and Draco.

"Outside, now," Harry said behind Draco. Ginny turned and looked at Harry. One glance at her and he knew that she heard what he'd said to Draco and was already angry. He didn't care.

"Potter," Draco said, half questioningly as he turned. "Outside? For what?"

"I'm going to duel you properly."

"If we duel properly, it's got to be at dawn."

"You and I both know what you're playing at, and I won't have it."

"Harry, knock it off," Ginny said, "Draco's not _playing at_ anything."

"Fine then, _Draco_ ," Harry said, "If you're not going to go outside." _WHAM_. Harry punched Draco squarely in the face.

"Harry!" Ginny yelled.

"Outside, boys," Madam Rosmerta called over the uproar that followed Harry's punch.

"Right," Harry said sharply. He grabbed Draco by the back of his collar and half led, half pushed him out the door. He knew Ginny was following and didn't care.

Once they were barely out the door, Harry hit Draco again, knocking him down onto the autumn leaves that had gathered in the doorway.

"So no wands then? Just fists to cuffs?" Draco drawled through his teeth, smirking. He spat blood toward the street.

Harry yelled, "You deserve to feel pain! You deserve to die! I never should have pardoned you or your father! What did you or your father do to defeat Voldemort other than stand in the way? You didn't deserve my pardon."

Draco pushed himself to his feet. His arms hung limply at his sides. "You're right, Potter. So why don't you kill me already? I don't think anyone would mind if you did. Just keep in mind, Snape's not around to fix it this time when you regret it afterward."

"Harry stop it," Ginny said quietly from the doorway. "What's gotten into you?"

"Ginny, don't you get it? He was trying to get you to sleep with him. That's why he gave you Hush."

"Potter, she _asked_ for it. I delivered," Draco said through his bloody mouth.

"I was just curious, that's all," Ginny said, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes as she glanced over at Draco.

"I don't think I'm the one you're mad at," Draco said evenly to Harry and then glanced at Ginny. "If you'll excuse me, I think I'll skip Occlumency practice for today." He started pacing back up toward Hogwarts.

Harry glanced over and saw that Hermione and Ron, amongst a few of the other students at the Three Broomsticks, were watching from the window. When he looked over at them though, they looked quickly away. Harry instead looked to Ginny, who had a blazing look that had nothing to do with any desire to kiss him.

"I've known him for longer than you have. Trust me, he wants you, okay?"

"You're jealous," Ginny said, laughing dryly. "Harry, you're the one that wanted to stay friends…"

"So if I asked you to be with me, and just me, you would say yes, would you?"

"Harry—"

"Right, you'd say no. I know. You don't have to keep rubbing salt in my wound." Harry stepped closer so there was less than a foot of space between them. "You can't tell me that last night didn't mean anything to you."

"Harry, it was great," she said, glancing toward the window, "But it also felt like you were mad at me."

"Well, I was."

"We can't do this anymore."

"So you're breaking off, what? Our friendship?" Harry's hand found the messiest part of his hair and pulled. He wanted to scream but he couldn't even get himself to speak again.

"Yeah, I suppose so. But let's face it, it wasn't a friendship to you."

"It wasn't a friendship to you either," Harry said between his teeth.

They both stood staring at each other. Her eyes softened. It almost looked like she pitied him.

"Don't look at me like that, Gin."

She shoved him hard in the chest and then hurried away back toward Hogwarts.


	44. The Cradle Falls

Harry sat back down across from Hermione.

"What was that about?" Ron asked immediately.

"I thought Malfoy was trying to sleep with Ginny. I guess I may have been mistaken."

"So you punched him?" Hermione said, absent-mindedly rubbing her chest.

"Yeah."

"But Harry," Hermione said gently, "Ginny isn't yours to protect. Not anymore."

"I definitely know that," Harry said flatly.

"What made you think he was trying to… you know…" Ron asked.

"He gave her Hush. It makes you do weird things."

"No it doesn't," Hermione said, shaking her head. Both of the boys looked at her. "After the Wizard's Weed over the summer I did a bit of reading on the different magical drugs. Hush is just supposed to make you more in-tune with your spirituality and put you at peace."

"I don't know what book you read that in, but that's definitely not what Hush does," Harry said without meeting her eye. She looked confused.

"You know what, Harry," Ron said, "I'm glad you punched him. If you hadn't, I would have. He shouldn't be slipping Ginny drugs. Doesn't matter why."

"Right," Harry said, looking down at his mostly uneaten sandwich. It was completely unappealing to him. He pushed his plate away and instead downed the rest of his butterbeer. Hermione was watching him.

"Oh!" she said suddenly.

"What?" Ron asked, startled.

"Sorry, I just remembered something. From Charms actually. Well, from reading the Charms text ahead."

"Oh yeah?" Harry asked, uninterested. He was thinking about getting some firewhiskey at the bar.

"Yeah, there's a charm you can do to see what the world would have been like without you. You take any memory from your head and do the charm and it'll temporarily change what you'll see when you put the memory into a Pensieve and examine it. I want to try it."

"I'd rather not see what the world would have been like without Harry, thanks," Ron said, raising his eyebrows.

"Well," Hermione said, looking slightly crestfallen, "It's supposed to make you appreciate your life more… Anyway, there were some other interesting things about Pensieves that I read about. You can actually buy dead people's memories. Or at least you used to be able to. There was quite a trade apparently about a hundred years ago."

"Really? Who would want a dead person's memories?" Ron asked, taking a sip of butterbeer.

"Well, you could get famous people's memories…" Hermione started. "Also, there's other things. Though, some of it is a bit disturbing."

"Yeah?" Harry asked, still not really listening. It was clear that Hermione was trying to change the subject so he wouldn't brood over Ginny. It wasn't working.

"Well, you can buy memories of sexual encounters," she said quickly, "Which honestly is just voyeurism since they're real memories and can't actually be classified as pornography…"

"Erm, _what?_ Do you hear what's coming out of her mouth?" Ron said to Harry.

He was only surprised. She finally had his attention. "Sounds like something you'd find in Knockturn Alley," Harry said, off-handedly.

"There's also games you can play in the memories that used to be quite popular when Pensieves were more abundant," Hermione said, "Like drinking games and things. Lovers will often show each other meaningful memories as well as a way to get to know each other better." She looked down and blushed at this.

Harry glanced at Ron and was surprised that he'd cottoned on. He was gazing at her intently.

"I'll be off then," Harry said, standing. He'd just remembered his bottle of firewhiskey in his trunk back in the castle.

"Really? You didn't want to knock about town a bit?" Ron asked, watching Harry pull a few galleons from his pocket and lay them down on the table.

"No, I should be getting back. I wanted to prepare a bit for the week for teaching and I still have a ton of homework." It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't entirely the truth either.

"Alright," Ron said. Harry pretended he couldn't tell that Ron was saddened by this.

"See you," Harry said. They both said goodbye to him. Then he walked quickly back up to the castle. He was in a hurry to stop thinking about Ginny and Draco and what could happen between them. How quickly would she move?

Harry hated himself for thinking it, but he knew it was likely that she'd move quite quickly. At least she and Malfoy matched each other in looks, Harry thought bitterly.

* * *

Ron couldn't stop watching Hermione's hand as she rubbed her chest. It worried him. He tried to stay calm. It wouldn't help her to have to calm him down.

"Did you want to go anywhere?" Hermione asked him. She'd hardly eaten.

"Are you done?" Ron asked.

"Yes."

"But shouldn't you eat more? It's not healthy to skip meals when… well, you know."

"Right, I do know. But I'm a tad queasy."

"Oh, okay. Well, that can be normal I think." Ron slid out of the booth and helped Hermione up by lending his hand to her.

"Did you want to go anywhere?" Hermione asked, pulling her hand away from Ron's grasp in order to rub her chest again.

"No. I think we should go back to Hogwarts. Harry reminded me, I still have a few inches to write for Charms before tomorrow."

"Oh, alright."

It concerned Ron that Hermione didn't seem to remember helping him finish the very homework he was talking about.

He slid an arm around her torso as they walked and held onto her. If she started to fall, he'd be ready to catch her.

Once they were alone on the path back up toward the castle, Ron said quietly, "Hermione, I want you to go to the hospital wing."

"Really, Ron, I'm fine. This chest pain comes and goes. It'll be fine."

"But Hermione, if the baby… it takes a lot of energy for a magical baby… I don't want you to get hurt."

"But Ron, if I keep going to the hospital wing, word could get out."

"Everyone knows you made a Pensieve," he said evenly, "No one suspects anything and no one will know except you, Madam Pomfrey and me. I'll even turn in your Charms essay for you if you have to miss for tomorrow and I'll take notes for you or whatever you want. Please, 'Mione?"

"Yes, alright. I'll let her check me over again. I won't have to miss class. That's absurd."

"Thank you. I'll…" He was going to say 'I'll do anything to keep you safe', but he knew she'd only scoff at him. So instead, he said, "I'll wait outside the curtain for you then while she checks you over."

But as they drew near to the front gate to Hogwarts, it happened. Hermione stopped walking even though they were walking slowly. Then, she grabbed a handful of Ron's shirt.

"Ron," she whispered through gritted teeth. "Oh, Ron, it hurts. Something's wrong."

"What?" Ron asked, grabbing her around her waist and holding the hand that was clutching his shirt. "What do you want me to do? Should I Apparate us to St. Mungo's?" He tried and failed to keep the panic from his voice.

Hermione shook her head. But then she doubled over, fell to her knees (supported by Ron on the way down) and vomited.

Without another word, Ron scooped her up into his arms, and ran through the gate and up the path toward the huge front double doors to Hogwarts. Relief swept over him at the sight of Harry, who was just starting up the stairs just ahead.

"Ron, I'm…" Hermione said quietly but then she laid her head down on his chest. Was she just tired or did she pass out? He couldn't see her face.

As he began running up the steps, he was angry with himself. He should have taken her to St. Mungo's. Why did he listen to her?

"Ron? Why… Why're Hermione's jeans all bloody? What happened?" Harry said as Ron neared. Harry began running up the steps with him. And then Harry did the wand motion for _Mobilicorpus_ and Hermione was floating through the air while still protected by Ron's arms.

Bloody?

"It's from making the Pensieve," Ron lied, "Come on, we've got to get her to Madam Pomfrey."

Ron had never noticed how long the halls were to the hospital wing before then.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity of time standing still and his legs not moving fast enough, they had reached the hospital wing.

"Madam Pomfrey!" Ron yelled as they ran in through the doors. He didn't lay Hermione down. He didn't want to.

Madam Pomfrey didn't appear. Ron watched as Harry hurried back to her private quarters. "No one's here," Harry said as he jogged back to Ron and unconscious Hermione. "She's so pale..."

"What is the problem, Masters?" Winky came walking quietly through the door to the hospital wing. "Madam Pomfrey stepped out to eat lunch but she will be coming back soons, she should."

"Winky," Harry said, swallowing, "Take us to St. Mungo's please."

"But Winky's not allowed to take students out of Hogwarts without the permission from the Headmistress, no, no…"

Professor Flitwick happened to be walking down the hall, Ron saw behind Winky.

"Professor!" Ron yelled. Professor Flitwick looked around and turned. Then he started toward the doors to the hospital wing.

"Is something the matter?" he asked, striding over to the doorway. He was barely taller than Winky. "Dear me, what's happened to Miss Granger?"

He flicked his wand at her and dark blue sparks shot out. "That should stop her bleeding for a while."

"Thank you," Ron said fervently. Then, Madam Pomfrey came up behind Professor Flitwick and Winky.

"Oh," she said, her eyes widening only a fraction before her stern businesslike face slid back into place. "Out of my way, out of my way," she said, pushing between Professor Flitwick and Winky. She levitated Hermione out of Ron's arms and to a nearby bed.

"Should Winky take Miss Granger to St. Mungo's, Madam?" Winky asked squeakily.

"No, no. She'll be fine here. I believe I already know what happened."

"It was from making the Pensieve," Harry said fervently.

"I've never heard of bleeding from making a Pensieve," said Professor Flitwick, "Are you sure she wasn't attacked?"

"If you'll all please quietly leave my patient in peace and allow her some privacy now," Madam Pomfrey said loudly. Hermione's eyes batted open.

"Ron?" Hermione whispered.

"I'm here 'Mione," Ron said, taking a step forward but then stopping when Hermione's eyes fell closed again.

Professor Flitwick nodded and left, as did Winky. Harry stayed where he was for a moment, but then he met Ron's gaze. He knew that it'd be almost impossible to keep what was really going on a secret if Harry stayed. He wanted Harry there… really, if he was honest, he needed him there. But Hermione's wish for secrecy was more important.

"Thanks, Harry," Ron said simply. Harry nodded, and his face seemed to relax into an unspoken understanding. Then, Harry turned and left too. It hurt Ron to watch him turn away so he looked back at Madam Pomfrey instead.

Madam Pomfrey then erected a hospital curtain-like partition around Hermione. Bravely, Ron stepped around it and stood a few feet behind Madam Pomfrey, watching her work.

Then, abruptly, the nurse straightened up, flicked her wand toward the doors to the hospital wing, which swung shut, and then she faced Ron.

"Hermione has fallen into a coma," Madam Pomfrey said in a serious, quick tone. "Time is of the essence. I need you to decide for her. I feel certain that you have her best interests at heart..."

"What is it?" His voice was barely audible because his throat was so dry.

"The baby is too much to allow her heart to heal. If I do the spell to let her keep the baby, Hermione will die during childbirth, if not before. Her heart will fail. If I do nothing, the baby will die. The baby is already dying, but I believe she can be saved."

"She?" Ron whispered. He immediately thought of the Fate that Harry had told him about: how Harry had taught a daughter of theirs named Rose…

"The baby," Madam Pomfrey said delicately.

"Right." Ron sat down on the end of Hermione's bed and clasped his hands together so tightly that he couldn't feel his fingers anymore. She… a girl… had Hermione already known? This early… of course Madam Pomfrey knew… a girl…

Ron hardly had to think about it. He knew Hermione would choose to save the baby. She was brave. She was a Gryffindor.

"I… I can't…" he said as though he were arguing with Hermione. He shook his head, feeling tears fall down his face. He glanced at Hermione's unmoving form and then back up at Madam Pomfrey.

"I'll do the spell then. It's the old fashioned way of doing things," Madam Pomfrey said, quietly, her tone was even and calm. "She won't know that I gave you a decision, Mr. Weasley. It'll be alright, you'll see."

"Wait what?" Ron asked, standing up again. Madam Pomfrey raised her wand. "No!" Ron yelled.

"No?" Her wand was still held aloft. "You'll allow her to miscarry?"

"Yes… yes," Ron said, shaking his head, crossing his arms over his chest. Tears fell down his face. "Please," he whispered.

Understanding washed over Madam Pomfrey's face. "Alright, Mr. Weasley." She lowered her wand.

"You may stay with her as long as you like," Madam Pomfrey said, petting Ron's arm a few times. "She is unlikely to wake until morning. The coma spell I did will protect her heart and allow it to heal. She should be better in the next day or two."

Ron couldn't speak. He only nodded.

Then, as the nurse retreated into her quarters in the back of the hospital room, Ron sat back down on the bed.

He laid down next to Hermione and kissed her forehead. Then, holding her cold hand in both of his sweating hands, he watched as she took the slow, even breaths of deep sleep.

And, as quietly as he could, he cried.


	45. Halloween

September passed into October with the usual shift in weather to cooler days and more rain. Without Ginny to distract him, Harry found his days passing in a blur of teaching mixed with his own classes in a jumbled mess of work and homework. He was frequently up well into the night grading assignments or else doing his own assignments only to fall asleep without extinguishing his candle. Then he'd start it all over again the next day.

He didn't even have Ron and Hermione as a distraction most evenings and weekends. Hermione seemed more serious than ever about her studies anymore, and had become more of a maniac when it came to studying than she had even in fifth year when studying for O.W.L.s. Thankfully though, she had stopped rubbing her chest all the time and seemed to have healed from making the Pensieve.

Ron seemed low, as though he had found another horcrux to wear around his neck. Harry even found himself looking for a chain around his neck once or twice but never did see one. He assumed it must be because of all the studying Ron had been doing with Hermione rather than goofing off as he'd done in past years.

Harry had only barely realized it was October by the time Halloween had come around. He realized it was Halloween only because of the Jack-o-Lanterns floating above their heads during breakfast instead of the normal candles.

"How has therapy been going, Harry?" Hermione asked after swallowing a sip of pumpkin juice.

"Fine," Harry lied. He'd actually skipped the last two weeks of sessions. They weren't helping at all. He didn't like talking to Madam Pomfrey about memories that bothered him. Really, he didn't want to talk to anyone about it. He wanted to just put it all behind him. It had crossed his mind to ask to be Oblivated of all his bad memories. But then he was afraid that he wouldn't have enough memories left and would end up like Lockhart in the hospital…

"So I've been thinking," said Hermione after silence ensued after Harry's one-word answer. "Since I went through all the trouble of making the Pensieve, we might as well use it."

"Hmm?" said Ron, with a mouthful of sausage.

"You mean that thing you were saying that day we were in Hogsmeade? With the charm to see what your life would be like without you?" Harry asked. Ron looked up abruptly at Harry as though just remembering something.

"Yes, I thought… since it was Halloween… we could do with a bit of a laugh. Or we could go to that thing that the Slytherins are having. The memorial? That's tonight," said Hermione.

Harry automatically glanced over at the Slytherin table where Ginny sat eating with Malfoy. Hermione insisted they weren't together every time Harry brought it up. But, Harry always reminded himself, she also didn't know about how Ginny and he "hadn't been together" either…

"Seems a bit dodgy to me to have it in the Forbidden Forest though, don't you think?" Ron said. "I'm not sure why they want to have it at midnight, either."

"It's by invitation only anyway," Harry said. Harry had been relieved he didn't have to go. He hadn't enjoyed the memorials he'd had to attend over the summer.

Without meaning to, he'd stared at the back of Ginny's head for too long. She looked over her should at him, attempted a smile and then turned away once more. "You know, for weeks I've been meaning to crack open that bottle of firewhiskey that's in the bottom of my trunk. I'd be willing to share."

"Now there's an idea," Ron said, raising his eyebrows.

"Yes, a terrible one," Hermione said stiffly. "It'd be wonderful for the Head Boy, Head Girl and a professor to get caught drunk on school grounds."

"Then let's just not get caught," Ron said. "Come on, Hermione."

To Harry's surprise, Hermione seemed to soften a little at this.

"Alright, maybe just one drink. But we'll have to be discrete."

"Right, I've got to stop at the Defense classrooms before Potions," Harry said, standing up. He wanted to check on the Grindylows he'd shown his third years yesterday before the start of Potions class this morning. "Seeing as Hermione is bringing the Pensieve, Ron, you should come up with some memories to put in it."

"Hm, right," Ron said brightly. "I'll think of something."

That evening, after Harry ate dinner at the head table along with Mr. Weasley, Neville, and the other professors, and everyone disbursed without any notifications of trolls in dungeons, Harry quickly found Ron and Hermione. Together, they went back to the Defense classroom which led to Harry's professor's chambers. Harry got the firewhiskey out of his trunk. Meanwhile, Ron carried the Pensieve in the room, followed in by Hermione. Once Harry shut his trunk, Ron set the Pensieve down on top of it at the foot of Harry's bed.

"So I kipped over to Knockturn Alley during my free period today after lunch," Ron said, reaching into his robe pocket. "And I picked up these."

He pulled a folded up bit of parchment out of his pocket. Unfolding it, he revealed ten or so tiny glass, stoppered vials within. Most of the memories appeared whispy and silvery white, but a few looked thickened and yellow or else green. "They're old memories from dead people," Ron explained.

"Oh, Ron, you didn't," Hermione said, picking one at random and holding it up to the candlelight.

"Yes I did," he said. "Well, I didn't take them from anyone's minds myself. I bought them. You were the one who'd mentioned this before."

"I was just trying to distract Harry."

"To be honest, I'd meant just to provide memories from your own head…" Harry said to Ron.

"Oh come on, these are bound to be far more interesting than anything I can remember… at least to you two. You two were there for all the interesting things I've done…" Ron said, looking back and forth between a skeptical Hermione and an unconvinced Harry.

"You are self-deprecating to a fault," said Hermione.

Harry uncorked the firewhiskey bottle and took a swig. "I thought you'd show us that match we missed in fifth year when Hagrid made us meet Grawp." He handed the bottle to Ron also drank a swig.

"Oh, yeah, forgot about that," Ron said, making a face as he swallowed. He handed the bottle to Hermione.

"Honestly, this seems completely ill-advised," she said, looking up at Ron and then to Harry. She pulled out her wand and flicked it at the door which then locked. Then she did a _muffilato_ charm as well as another wordless charm toward the door.

"Right," she said, looking at Ron again. Quickly, she lifted the bottle to her mouth and took a drink.

"Easy there," Ron said, taking the bottle from her. "Best to pace yourself."

"So, I think it's best to stick to the untarnished memories," Hermione said, flicking her wand at the vials so the clouded ones disappeared. Seven remained.

"Mm. ladies first, 'Mione. Which one will it be?" Ron said, holding the memories up in both hands in front of her.

"Do you have an idea what any of these memories contain?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"Well, I have a bit of an idea. They were… er, well, do you really want to know? They won't hurt you. They're just memories."

"Yes, I really want to know."

"They were in a huge stack in the back of this dodgy place across the street from Borgin and Burkes. There were probably a hundred or so parcels like these. I picked the one that was labelled 'Halloween' and it had a dash and said 'The Night of' and 'Various Accounts' and then another dash and 'deceased'."

"Right," said Hermione, "Hmm." Then, tapping her chin, she picked one from the top of the little pile. "This one will do, I suppose." She pulled the stopper from the vial and dumped it into the Pensieve. It began swirling at once.

"Who goes in first?" Hermione asked.

"I will," Harry said, shrugging. What bad could come of looking at someone else's memories?

Well, a lot, depending on the person… but Harry tried not to think too much about it. He plunged, head-first, into the Pensieve.

Ron and Hermione soon followed, both landing solidly on their feet behind him. Glancing around, Harry quickly realized where they were: in the Department of Mysteries.

Just ahead of Harry, there was a man who Harry didn't recognize. He hurried forward through one of the black doors in the circular room and through to the brain room.

"Oh, this place brings back such memories," Ron said sarcastically. Hermione laughed dryly.

The man met up with a woman who stood near the tank. She was holding a clipboard and her quill was writing things as she rubbed her chin with her thumb and forefinger. When she glanced away from the brains and toward the man, the quill stopped writing.

"I need to learn to take notes that way," Hermione said quietly.

"What is it, Ern? Need more spell-o-tape again?" she asked, turning toward the door behind her.

"No, no wait, Morietta," he said. He flicked his wand over his shoulder and a spell flew right through Hermione at the door, which slammed shut and locked. Harry could distantly hear a whirring sound, telling him that the room with the doors was spinning.

"What is it?" she asked seriously.

"The Dark Lord has fallen," he said breathlessly. He was obviously elated.

"What?" she asked sharply, "Voldemort? How?"

The whirring of the room behind them abruptly stopped. Harry felt on edge. Something was wrong. He pulled out his wand even though he knew he wouldn't need to defend himself. Ron eyed him with a look of apprehension. But the two speaking hardly seemed to notice…

"A little baby boy," the man said, "They're saying he must be even more powerful than He-who-must-not-be-named. Could you imagine?"

"I'd rather not-"

"But in the meantime," he said, catching his breath, "We're free of him. No more threats. We're done."

But then the door behind them blasted open and everything dissolved to black.

Harry pushed off of the balls of his feet and he flew upward in the blackness back into the Harry's bedroom. Thankfully, Ron and Hermione found their way out of the darkness as well.

"These must all be from that night," Hermione said quietly, looking at Harry. Harry didn't know what to say. He stared down at the Pensieve.

More powerful than Voldemort? How many witches and wizards had he let down by just being ordinary at magic?

"Do you think…" Ron said slowly, "That these are all from people who died that night?"

Harry felt his heart fall into the pit of his stomach. What if someone had lifted memories from his parents when they died?

"I don't think we should look at these. Let's just… get rid of them," Hermione said, her voice shaking. She dipped her wand tip into the Pensieve and she placed the memory back into its vial.

Harry picked up the bottle of firewhiskey and gulped. "Let's do another," he said once he swallowed, picking another memory at random and dumping it into the Pensieve. He handed the bottle of firewhiskey to Ron, who drank a sip and then handed it to Hermione who also took a sip. Then, Harry dove into the Pensieve.

* * *

Ginny took Draco's arm when he offered it because it was dark in the Forbidden Forest. What Harry had said about Hush-that Draco had only given it to her so he could see her naked- was floating in the forefront of her mind as they walked. She needed to close her mind or Draco might read it there. It wouldn't be the first time he performed Legilimency without casting the spell.

Ginny and Draco arrived at the clearing where their vision had happened and where Harry had come to die at Voldemort's hands.

Twenty or so other students were already there. In the center of the clearing there was a bonfire burning low. A few students stood near it, warming their hands. Ginny got a chill that had nothing to do with the cool evening of Halloween.

"Do you want me to perform a warming charm on you?" Draco asked.

"No, thanks," Ginny said. What was Draco uptight about? He always clammed up like this after Ginny saw a particularly bad or abusive memory while practicing Occlumency. She knew him well enough now to not ask what was wrong though. Instead, she stayed quiet and close by his side.

As she waited for the memorial to start, she looked around. She didn't know some of the Slytherins here. There were a few Ravenclaws, she was relieved to notice, but there weren't any other Gryffindors other than herself. Not one Hufflepuff had been invited, so it seemed.

"Gather around the fire please," called one of the Slytherins who looked like he was too old to go to Hogwarts any longer.

"What's Ginny Weasley doing here?" called one girl toward Draco with an upturned nose. She was one of the Ravenclaws. Ginny had met her before but couldn't recall her name.

"She is my guest," Draco said flatly. No one said anything to this but everyone moved into a loose circle around the bonfire.

"Silence now," said the older looking boy who was the leader. "And all join hands please."

Ginny looked at Draco, who was making a scowling sort of face. Was he angry or just confused? With the air of wanting to get this over with, she took Draco's hand when he didn't reach for hers. His hand was cold. On her other side, Ginny held the sweaty palm of Millicent Bulstrode.

"Are we going to pray?" Ginny whispered to Draco, surprised. He glanced over at her.

"I don't know… I suppose so. Why else would we hold hands?"

Other people were whispering similar things to each other. Apparently most of the people here didn't really know what was going to happen. At least it wasn't just her, Ginny thought.

And then, the leader started chanting something in Latin that sounded like a song. He chanted quietly but all that could be heard after only a few seconds were the fire crackling and the boy's voice. The Forbidden Forest went silent. Ginny felt like someone was behind her, watching her. She wanted to turn to look over her shoulder but she was afraid.

She wanted to tell Draco to lead her back to the castle, but she was afraid to look away from the fire because the fire was no longer low. It grew quickly now, as though a bellows fed it with pure oxygen.

When she allowed herself to look away a moment later, she found that Draco was already looking at her with wide, frightened eyes.

"I think he's saying a Resurrection Spell," he whispered, barely moving his mouth to speak.

Ginny tried to pull her hand from his but she couldn't. It was as though their hands were welded together, palm to palm.

"Close your mind," he said to her, shaking his head at her attempt to drop hands, "and hope that he messes it up and this doesn't work."


	46. Midnight

Memory after memory was basically the same. People in shops in Diagon Alley, people in London, people speaking foreign languages-in one, Hermione translated the French the people spoke-all of them spoke Voldemort's name and then they were dead soon after.

With each time they exited the Pensieve at the end of the memory, Harry, Ron and Hermione became drunker and drunker on Firewhiskey.

Finally, after less than an hour had passed, they were down to the last memory. They didn't need to speak to each other. Ron handed it to Harry. When he did, it glowed a faint golden color in Harry's hand.

Ignoring this, Harry gently poured the memory into the Pensieve.

Tears welled in Harry's eyes. He was too drunk for his brain to clearly think about whether he actually wanted to see this memory or not, so it was simple. He shouldn't watch this. But he was going to.

Even drunk though, he knew he would keep this memory forever.

Harry, Ron and Hermione stood next to the fireplace in Harry's parents' house in Godric's Hollow. Before them, James sat with a sleeping child in his lap, but he was staring at the clock above the fireplace. There was a hand for James, a hand for Lily and a hand for Harry. All three pointed to "home".

Lily sat next to them with the baby's little feet and chubby little legs stretching into her lap. Really, Harry thought as he looked down at the memory of himself, he wasn't a baby. At least, he hadn't been as small as Teddy. Rather, he had been a toddler. He suddenly wondered if the memories he'd thought he made up of his parents might actually be partially real…

Lily leaned down and rested her cheek against James' shoulder.

"I just can't believe he's dead," James said, "I just can't believe Sirius would do that… It had to have been someone Polyjuiced to look like him. This is all a trick. It is Halloween after all."

"It won't do any good to dwell on it now, love," Lily said, tears falling from her eyes as she blinked.

"I know… I know…"

"You remember everything Dumbledore said, right?"

"Yes. I gave him the Invisibility Cloak so he could give it to Harry someday."

"Oh, God," Lily said, closing her eyes. James kissed the top of her head.

Harry couldn't take his eyes off of his parents. He wanted to run at them and tell them to leave, tell them to run and forget him if they needed to. He wanted to draw his wand and kill Voldemort but he couldn't force himself to move. Instead, he memorized every strand of Lily's hair, every glance that his father made to the clock, down to the baby on his father's lap, and to Lily. It was as though time was standing still. Harry hardly remembered that Hermione and Ron were there with him.

A chime sounded softly twelve times from James' wizard's watch and both Lily and James sat up straighter, as though it had been an alarm clock.

"It's midnight," Lily said glancing back over her shoulder toward the front door. "Maybe Dumbledore was wrong…"

But then there was a beam of light shining through the keyhole of the front door. All three hands on the clock over the fireplace slowly moved. They pointed to "Mortal Peril", though James and Lily hadn't noticed.

"Go upstairs with Harry. I'll stay downstairs and hold him off!" James was on his feet. He handed baby Harry to Lily, kissing the baby's head quickly as he did. Cradling the child against her chest, who was now crying, Lily kissed James hard.

"I love you!" she said, her eyes wide.

"I love you! Go!" James shouted. She ran upstairs with the baby pressed against her just as the door blasted open.

Harry couldn't watch any more. He knew what would happen. Swaying a little from dizziness, he pushed up lightly from the balls of his feet. As he flew upward out of the memory, he had one last vision of his father as he stepped in the way of Voldemort.

* * *

The song ended. Ginny did not understand any of the words other than a few that sounded a lot like a few hexes she knew. Everyone stood still holding hands while the fire died slowly back down to its original size. Nothing happened.

"We may not have been successful yet," the leader said, grinning over the fire with a false bravado. "The ensuing days shall be the true test. Thank you everyone. We have performed strong, ancient magic tonight."

"What the bloody hell was that?" called a Ravenclaw boy after the leader. Most of the other people around the fire were muttering to one another and seemed unsure what had happened.

"Did we just pray?" Ginny heard a girl ask her friend nearby.

And with that, the Slytherin boy trudged quickly away, leading the way without his wand lit, out of the forest. Once he was out of earshot, Ginny lit her wand with a wordless _Lumos_ , as did Draco.

"What was all that about?" Ginny asked. She didn't care if she annoyed Draco with her tone. She was frightened. Glancing over at him, she noticed even by wandlight that he was paler than usual.

"I think we just er… I think we may have just tried to bring a spirit back from the other side."

"What spirit?" Ginny hissed.

"You didn't hear him? The last word he said? The name?"

Ginny shook her head.

Draco said, sneering, "Who else?"

"Voldemort?"

Draco dropped the sneer from his face and only pressed his lips together. "I'm sorry. I should have realized that this is what this would be. I didn't know. Perform Legilimency if you don't believe me. I won't fight it."

"I believe you," said Ginny. And then the chill running up her back seeped into her skin and chilled her to her bones.

"You're shivering. Come, Ginevra. I've kept you out past your bedtime." She followed him as he started out of the forest but she found it difficult to speak, as though she were in a dream.

And a calm came over her. It was a familiar one, one that she hadn't felt since first year when she'd gotten too close with a diary that had a brain of its own. She forced herself to smile at Draco.

 _Good_ , said the voice in her head. _Now find and kill Harry Potter._

"At least it didn't work," Draco said, shrugging.

She told the voice in her head that she would not. In her head, she was screaming.

 _No, naughty Ginevra. I can see what you were doing with Potter. I shall have to punish you severely. We have been through this before, lest you forget, you wicked child…_

* * *

"Well," Harry said, tears streaming down his face. "I am going to break into Dumbledore's office now."

"What?" Hermione asked slowly. "It's McGonananagall's office now." She, of the three, had probably drank the least-perhaps only about five shots of firewhiskey-over the course of the hour that they had looked at memories. She, however, was just as drunk as the other two, which was very drunk indeed.

"I'll come with you," Ron slurred to Harry. "I don't want you to be sad. You're sad."

"No, no, I'll go by myself. I just want to see if Dumbledore has any memories up there of my dead…" (burp) "parents."

"Oh, Harry, no," Hermione said, "You musss… mussnnn't go. Ssstay here with me… us… in in instead."

"Who cares if I'm sad?" Harry said loudly, "I'm always sad. Oh, I know. I'll go to that plllace in Knockturn Alley…"

"Let's jussst stay here," Hermione said again, letting her arms fall from him. Ron grabbed onto Hermione and hugged her.

"Mmk," he said, burying his face in her hair.

"Oi, you two," Harry said slowly, "Break it up. I don't want to be a wheel."

"Oh, come here, I'll hug you too. You need a hug," Ron said. Harry didn't move because he knew he wanted to go somewhere but he couldn't remember where.

When Harry didn't come any closer, Ron and Hermione stumbled toward Harry while still hugging. Harry laughed through his tears at the sight of them. Then they both pulled him into a hug.

"See, Harry, you're not a wheel," Ron said. "Hermione, tell him he's not a wheel."

"You're not a wheeeeel, Harry," Hermione said. "I feel quite… shhhort."

"You are quite short," Ron said.

"You're tall," Harry said to Ron.

"Oh Merlin," Hermione slurred, "listen to how stupid we are." She started laughing, which quickly got Ron and Harry laughing.

And she did the unthinkable: she leaned toward Harry and kissed him right in front of Ron.

Harry responded immediately but then, after a few seconds, he pulled away as he remembered that Ron was not only standing right there but also embracing him.

"Harry!" she said, as though it had been his fault.

"Sorry, I don't know why I did that," he said, shaking his head like a wet dog. "My vision's err… Hang on, _you_ erm you kissed _me._ "

"Yeah, 'Mione. I'm over here. You kissed the wrong bloke," Ron said, laughing. Harry was so relieved that Ron was laughing that he started laughing too. Hermione was blushing but also laughing.

"I jusss waaanted him to cheeeeer up."

Then, Ron leaned down and kissed Hermione. A small part of Harry's mind was surprised that he didn't mind being this close while they kissed. In fact, he liked it.

Hermione continued kissing Ron as she stumbled backward toward Harry's bed. Though Ron let go of Harry then, Hermione held fast to Harry as she moved, so he stumbled after them, mildly bemused that she forgot to let go.

She let go of Harry only when her knees buckled when the backs of her legs hit the bed. Harry watched Hermione and Ron fall onto his bed and didn't mind it. Somehow, part of him felt like they were back in the tent in a way, like the world had melted away and they three were just on their own. Except nothing like this had ever happened in the tent…

Ron rolled so Hermione was on top of him. Harry thought he should probably leave them alone, even though they were in his bed, and he started to turn toward the door. But to Harry's surprise, Ron reached up and grabbed Harry's wrist. Gently, he pulled Harry forward toward Hermione, who was straddling Ron and giggling as she pulled her robes off. Harry stepped between Ron's feet and pressed up against Hermione's back. Then, he leaned down and kissed the back edges of her neck as Ron kissed her mouth again.

He felt rather than heard Hermione moan.

Harry grabbed Hermione's breasts through her cotton t-shirt as he kissed her neck. She leaned back against him and closed her eyes for a moment. Looking down, Harry watched as Ron unbuttoned Hermione's jeans and slid a hand under her knickers.

The little voice in Harry's head, which ironically sounded a lot like Hermione most of the time, was asking him what exactly was going on… But for the most part, Harry couldn't care less. This was fun. It felt good. He didn't want to be sad anymore. Ron was into it and Hermione was definitely into it. Where was the harm?

Harry pulled Hermione's shirt off over her head as she continued to lean back against him. As Ron kept fondling her, Harry sat down next to them on the bed and kissed Hermione deeply on the mouth.

Then, Hermione turned and gently pulled Harry's robes and shirt off. She smiled at him as she did it with half-lidded eyes. He couldn't help but smile back. He leaned forward and kissed her again. Together, the two boys led her back against the pillows. As they kissed, Ron leaned down and trailed kisses down Hermione's neck. Harry couldn't help but look down- hooking a thumb on one of the cups of her bra, Ron pulled it down, exposing her nipple. He pinched it lightly between his fingers. Hermione moaned and arched her back into Ron's touch.

Watching this, Harry realized that Ron was also shirtless but didn't know when this had happened. Harry leaned down and kissed the other side of Hermione's neck and pressed himself against her, mostly for a little relief. Hermione was undoing Ron's jeans.

Hermione grabbed Harry through his trousers and squeezed a little while she held Ron in her other hand. Harry grabbed her breast in response and kissed her neck. He didn't know or care what Ron was doing.

Then, she was unbuttoning Harry's trousers as well. She guided him toward herself and pulled him into her mouth. Harry hissed out between his teeth as he grabbed onto the windowsill over the head of his bed.

She was rocking- it felt so good… he rocked with her. Ron was inside her, and he was causing the rocking, Harry realized belatedly. She had one hand on Harry's hip and one in Ron's hair. One of Ron's hands was fisting into the sheets, the other held Hermione's hip down… Hermione's breasts were bare- both of the cups of her bra had been pulled down at some point. Otherwise, she was naked.

Harry, even this drunk, couldn't believe that he was turned on by watching what Ron was doing with Hermione… but what Hermione was doing with Harry definitely helped…

Later, as the three of them relaxed into a tangled heap together, Harry drifted to sleep.


	47. Under the Invisibility Cloak

Harry woke up with the sun brightly shining in his face. His head was throbbing.

He was lying next to Hermione, who was still asleep and lying next to Ron, who was awake and staring wide-eyed at the ceiling.

Harry quickly realized that most of the clothes were in a pile on his side of the bed. He stood up and dressed quickly. Ron was pretending to still be sleeping, Harry saw from a quick side-glance as he pulled his trainers on. Stowing his wand in his pocket, he grabbed the Invisibility Cloak and the Marauder's Map too because he didn't want to have to see Ron or Hermione today… or perhaps ever again.

He left the room as quietly as he could so he wouldn't wake Hermione. Then, he strode purposefully down the empty classroom, wordlessly unlocked the door, and nearly tripped over Ginny, who was curled up asleep on the floor there.

Harry shut the door and thought about just letting her continue to sleep, but he definitely didn't want her to see Hermione and Ron exit his room, even though he knew Ginny would never guess what they had done together the night before.

"Gin… Ginny… wake up," Harry said softly, shaking her awake.

"What?" she said groggily. "Harry!" she said, standing up quickly. "What are you doing here? Wait, where am I?"

"You fell asleep outside the door to my classroom," Harry explained, crossing his arms over his chest. "Why _did_ you fall asleep outside the door to my classroom?"

"You smell bad," she said, taking a step away from him. "You know, I'm starting to wonder if you're not starting with a drinking problem."

He wanted to ask her if she even cared whether he lived or died at this point, but he really needed her to get away from this door… "Want to join me for breakfast… er, lunch?" he said, looking down at his Wizard's Watch that he'd left on from the day before.

"Yes… no!" she said, shaking her head. "I'm so sorry, Harry. Please, just stay away from me, alright? It's for your own good," she said, turning away as she spoke. She hurried away.

"I'll stay away if you stop sleeping outside my door!" he called after her. He laughed as he watched her round the corner without looking back. Vaguely, he wondered if he wasn't a tad drunk still.

"That was strange," Harry said to no one.

As he was thoroughly hung over, and the thought of breakfast made him queasy, he instead conjured a goblet of water for himself (and couldn't help but think of Dumbledore when he did). Then, after slipping the Invisibility Cloak on, he went down the corridor the same way that Ginny had gone.

He thought about following her but then wondered if she'd still be able to smell him. So instead, he went to the Prefects' bathroom. He took off the Invisibility Cloak and took a shower in one of the stalls in the corner of the room rather than getting in the huge bathtub. After _scourgify-_ ing his clothes, he dressed again and pulled the Invisibility Cloak back on.

He decided to stroll around the lake for a while. He wasn't sure if he was tired or just bored. Just when he was starting to think that maybe he should check the Marauder's Map to see if it was safe to go back to his room to get some homework done, he spied Hagrid through the window of his hut.

Harry pulled off the Invisibility Cloak while he walked to Hagrid's hut. When he knocked, Fang immediately started barking.

"Harry," Hagrid said, answering the door. Harry smiled despite his headache. "Yeh look like yeh've had a rough night of it, eh? Come in, come in."

"Do you have any cures for a hangover?" Harry said jokingly as he sat down in an over-sized chair at the table.

"I do, as a matter of fact. Why would yeh be need'n a cure for a hangover though?" Hagrid said as he put the kettle on.

"I… I did something I wasn't… er… I did something I shouldn't have last night."

"We all have those nights, Harry. Once in a while, happens to the bes' of us," Hagrid said, nodding and looking down.

"It's just strange," Harry said, ploughing on. He realized that Hagrid was probably the last sort of parental figure left. Sure, he's always been sort of an older-brother type, but Hagrid had known him since he was eleven… really, Harry corrected himself, he'd known him since he was a baby. If anyone was going to be an ear to listen and advise Harry, it really was down to Hagrid.

"What's tha'?" Hagrid asked as the kettle screamed. Harry watched as Hagid made two massive cups of tea.

"With Voldemort gone, I don't know what to do with myself," Harry said, trying to keep his voice light. "What am I good for now? I'm just… Most people my age are just starting their lives and are getting things figured out. I feel like I don't have anything to look forward to."

Hagrid was silent as he sat down across from Harry at the table. He had a puzzled expression but he nodded for Harry to continue.

"I'm… lost," Harry said, shrugging and laughing a little uncomfortably.

"I know that feelin' well," Hagrid said, giving Harry a sad sort of smile. When he didn't say anything else, Harry felt like maybe he shouldn't have said anything. He wanted Hagrid to give him some sage advice that would make everything better. Instead, Harry found himself talking again.

"And Ginny kept giving me the run around, then Madam Pomfrey told me that I'm mental… and I did something… I don't think I can ever show my face to Hermione or Ron again. I don't know why I did it. I was just… I don't know… sad… and… I thought I didn't care, but I guess it was just the alcohol…"

When Harry didn't finish his sentence, Hagrid set his mug down. "Firs' of all, I doubt there's anythin' yeh could do that would keep Ron and Hermione from bein' yer friend."

Harry shook his head, but Hagrid continued, "But when I am feelin' overwhelmed like, I find it's best to just lie low for a while and keep meh head down. Yeh've always been good at tha' in the past. Yeh'll see, everythin'll be alrigh' in the end."

Harry took a sip of tea. He expected it to taste horrible, and it did, but his headache also almost instantaneously went away.

"Wow, thanks Hagrid," Harry said, "My headache's gone. What's in this tea?"

"Mm, my secret recipe. Can' tell yeh, er yeh'll be gettin' drunk every weekend," Hagrid chuckled. Harry laughed too.

"Or I'll just be visiting you every weekend for more tea," Harry said.

"Tha'd be fine too," Hagrid said, smiling.

Harry felt like he didn't deserve pleasant company and kindness suddenly. He was overwhelmed with the feeling that he deserved to be told off. Or, oddly, he felt like he needed to scrub a kitchen floor or a toilet…

"Do you need any help with finishing up your garden?" Harry asked before he even thought about it. He resisted the urge to rub his forehead.

"Nah," Hagrid said, chuckling. "Nah, you don't want to mess in the garden. It rained this morning, les' you forget. Too mucky at the mo'."

"Right," Harry said. He stood up. "Well, thanks for the… erm, remedy."

"Ta," said Hagrid nodding once. "Don' be a stranger."

* * *

It was nearly noon by the time Hermione woke up. She sat up, taking care to keep herself covered, and she looked around the room, "Why… oh!" She startled when she saw Ron sitting in a chair near the bed with his arms crossed.

"Hermione," Ron said quietly. He was already dressed.

"Ron, you scared me."

"Do you remember last night?" Ron asked just above a whisper.

"I remember… parts," she said, her face turning crimson. She hid her face in her hands as she tucked her knees up to her chest beneath the covers.

"I don't understand it," Ron said, shaking his head. "Are you attracted to Harry? I need to know."

"Of course not!" Hermione said, "Are _you_ attracted to Harry?"

"No! How could you even ask me that?" Ron said, standing up. He kept his arms crossed over his chest.

"Well, you asked _me._ I thought it only fair."

"Right," Ron said, shaking his head, "It was just the alcohol."

"Right," Hermione said. She scooted to the side of the bed and, half covered by the sheets still, she pulled her clothes back on. Ron turned his back to her. Once she was dressed, she came up to his side and they wordlessly agreed to leave the room.

"Let's go to lunch," Ron said.

"What if we see Harry there? What could we possibly say to him?" Bravely, she took Ron's hand in hers. He held her hand back.

"We'll have to see him again sooner or later," Ron said flatly, "Let's just act like nothing happened and maybe we can all three forget it."

"Yeah," Hermione said, nodding.

They were quiet until they reached the marble stairs to toward the Great Hall. Then Ron spoke again, "There was one good thing about last night, though."

"What was that?"

"I got to touch you for the first time in weeks," he said softly, leaning down toward her ear as they walked down the stairs, "I'm glad we can finally start moving past what happened."

"I can't just forget…"

"I'm not saying forget," Ron said in an even voice, "I'm just saying move past. I don't want to lose you."

"Oh Ron," Hermione said, tears falling down her face as she looked up at him. She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. He hugged her in return and made her be the first one to let go. Still holding hands, they sat down at the end of the Gryffindor table and Hermione listened as Ron talked about his latest Quidditch practice and what he thought about the upcoming match against Ravenclaw.

* * *

Ginny stood outside the entrance to the Slytherin Common room. She turned away from the door, then turned back, then away again. She wanted to stay and wait for Draco, but the voice in her head kept making her turn away.

A Slytherin girl walked toward the door.

"'Scuse me," Ginny said, "Can you give this to Draco Malfoy? It's urgent." She held up a folded piece of parchment.

"What's in it for me?" the girl said, holding her nose in the air.

"I won't hex you," Ginny said, smirking. The girl turned away. "Have you ever had the Bat Bogey Hex cast on you? Don't test me, girl. I'm at my wits end and would love to stand here and watch you scream."

"Séance." The girl looked back at Ginny after she said the password. "Geez, fine, crazy," the girl said, taking the paper from Ginny. "Wait here, I'll see if I can find him."

"Thanks so much," Ginny said in a sing-song voice. She leaned back against the wall and waited for two minutes until Draco emerged. He was wearing boxers and a white undershirt.

"What's wrong?" he asked, surveying Ginny. She straightened up against the wall as he looked at her.

"Why are you in your under things?" Ginny asked, surveying him too. He was slightly thinner than Harry but also slightly taller. Harry was more muscular, Ginny couldn't help but compare the two in her mind. The calmness was becoming very impatient in her head.

"Your note said you were in urgent need of my help," Draco said, narrowing his eyes. "Are you setting me up?"

"No, it is urgent. I don't have anyone else that would understand this… last night, at the, erm, gathering…" Ginny watched as Draco crossed his arms protectively over himself. His biceps flexed and she wondered if he was cold… She needed to shut her mind…"You know what, go get dressed and then we'll talk, alright?"

Draco nodded curtly, smirking at her, and went back inside, whispering the password as he did.

* * *

As Harry left, he pulled his Invisibility Cloak on and checked the Marauder's Map. After a lot of searching, Harry saw that Ron and Hermione were in the Great Hall. He also saw that Ginny and Draco were outside the Slytherin Common room together. Absentmindedly, he rubbed his forehead as he watched the little dots move over the parchment.

Harry trudged slowly back up the hill toward the Entrance Hall, all the while staring at Ginny's dot. Harry watched as Draco's dot went back inside the Slytherin Common room and to the Boys' Dormitories while Ginny's dot stayed in the hallway. Then, Draco's dot came back to Ginny's. The two dots moved slowly down the hallway, away from the Common Room. What were they doing there?

Harry asked himself why he cared. And yet, for the past weeks since actually breaking things off with Ginny, he found himself watching her-if only for a few minutes-almost every day…

He knew that Madam Pomfrey was right: he was crazy. All he wanted was the rest of his firewhiskey now. He wished Hagrid hadn't taken his headache away so maybe he wouldn't want to drink. Or would that only make him want to drink more?

As Harry passed the Great Hall, he glanced in and saw Hermione and Ron chatting together happily. He found their happiness strange. Didn't they remember last night? Maybe they didn't.

Without deciding to, Harry continued down toward the dungeons. Then, once he realized that Ginny and Draco would soon be meeting him, he stepped back against the wall near a suit of armor and waited, checking his Invisibility Cloak to make sure it was covering him.

He didn't have to wait long. As they passed, he watched them whisper to each other but couldn't hear them. He wished he had some extendible ears from the joke shop, but now that it was closed he couldn't even go get some after this for future eavesdropping endeavors.

Harry wondered for a moment then what exactly he was doing. But he quickly realized that he didn't care. He followed Ginny and Draco quite closely, practically tiptoeing. He had to strain to hear them.

"It's called Necromancy," Draco said to her. They started up the marble stairs together. "My father caught me reading a bit about it in the library at home once. I didn't get to read much."

Harry nearly stumbled backward down the steps then because he had tripped on the end of the Invisibility Cloak. He nearly pulled his arm out of his socket in his vain attempt to stay silent, but he did. Draco and Ginny continued on up the steps as though nothing happened.

Harry quickly caught up behind them again, but he'd clearly missed part of their conversation.

"Yes, I know. I am very sorry about that," Draco said glancing over at Ginny. "I only found out about it when everyone else did."

"Yeah, I figured that."

"But anyway, how is it not the same?"

"It's not like I'm losing-well, I did wake up outside of Harry's locked door last night. I don't remember how I got there."

"Could you have just been sleepwalking?"

"Maybe," she said, shaking her head, "I don't know. I don't feel safe. I'm worried what I'll do if I'm alone with him. Or what he'd do if he found out."

"I doubt Potter would do more than _Expelliarmus_ you." Ginny laughed openly at this, which annoyed Harry.

They entered the library and went straight for the Restricted Section. They were both silent as they perused the titles until Draco pulled a book with a title that Harry couldn't see clearly enough to read. Ginny pulled a few books off the shelves as well and then they both sat down at a table and started reading. Madam Pince eyed them beadily.

Harry didn't want to make a chair squeak, so he was forced to stand. Neither Draco nor Ginny said anything for at least twenty minutes. Meanwhile, Harry started walking quietly around the library, always keeping an eye on them in case they started talking again.

Finally, they did. He hurried back over to them as silently as he could.

"But how do you get rid of it?" Ginny whispered back.

He shook his head. "No luck there. It just says, 'A more desirable soul has a strong force of will, which the spirit uses to strengthen itself, akin to a sort of food source.' That's all it says on the whole subject," Draco said between his teeth, shutting the book.

"Yeah, you know I doubt we'll find much on it here," Ginny said, shutting the book she'd been skimming. "We should check your family's library."

Draco stood up and took his and Ginny's books. Ginny followed him as he found the books' places and slid them back on the shelves.

"It's odd, don't you think," Draco said quietly, sliding the last book on the shelf.

"What is?"

"Of all the people there, all the _Slytherins_ … it's you."

"Because I'm a Gryffindor?" Ginny asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, yeah," Draco said, shrugging.

"Just because I'm brave doesn't mean I'm a good person," Ginny said flatly. "And just because you're cunning and self-preserving, it doesn't mean you're bad."

"I suppose," he said as they exited the library. "I've spent quite a long time telling myself that I'm a bad person, though. I think all of us Slytherins think that way about ourselves from time to time."

"Well, that should really stop. I'd be proud to have a son in Slytherin someday. Just look at what Snape was doing all these years. He was braver than almost every other Gryffindor I've known."

"You may be right," Draco said, seeming to realize this for the first time at that moment.

"So did you want to practice today?" Ginny asked, turning to face him before they headed down the marble stairs.

"No. Let's take the weekends off. We've been practicing more than everyone else combined."

"I don't know why the other pairs aren't practicing though," Ginny said, hiking her hands to her hips. "Occlumency is hard."

"Not if you have a reason to hide your thoughts."

"Mm. I suppose. Well, maybe I'll get better at it now."

"Right," Draco said, nodding once, "Well, I'll see you." He turned and started down the steps.

"So you're just going to leave me to my own devices then?" Ginny called after him. Harry, who had still been following them and listening, still was extremely confused as to what they were talking about.

"What would you have me do?" Draco said without hardly moving his lips. He stepped back up the steps toward her and faced her again. "Have you come stay in the Slytherin Dungeons? Tie you down?"

"I don't know," Ginny said, dropping her hands from her hips. "I hadn't thought it through that much…" She crossed her arms over her chest and glanced back over her shoulder. Though she didn't realize it, she looked right through Harry. "But you should realize," she said softly, "For everything I'm doing right now, everything I say, every time I take a step, there's this little voice in my head telling me to do the opposite. To go find Harry instead."

Harry wondered at this. Why would she need to stop herself from seeing him? And what had Draco been reading about with moving souls? And he'd mentioned Necromancy? Harry was tempted to throw his Invisibility Cloak off right at this moment and curse Malfoy for dragging Ginny down into the Dark Arts. He was stopped only because there seemed to be more to it than that. He wanted to learn more before he literally blew his cover.

"Then I really can't let you out of my sight, can I?" Draco said. His nose scrunched a little as though he was trying not to sneer at her. "Everyone will think we're dating. Including Harry. You know that, right?"

"I know," Ginny said without flinching. "Everyone probably already thinks that anyway. Have you noticed how much time we've been spending together?"

"Right," Draco said. Ginny watched as his face betrayed a moment of confusion. It was a rare sight. "Well, come on then. I was going to have a bit of a late lunch. We were already spending a lot of time together. You're right."

"Worried I'll cramp your style?" Ginny said, starting down the stairs with him. "My family of blood traitors…"

"No, I suppose my family are traitors now too, ever since Mum's little stunt in the forest," Draco said. "No, I'm worried about what the other Slytherins would do if they found out about what happened."

With that, Harry couldn't take it anymore. He had to get away from them, especially Ginny. He went directly back to his bedroom to find his firewhiskey and get drunk again.


	48. Occlumency Practice

Harry managed to avoid seeing anyone else for the rest of the day.

When Ginny and Draco went to eat lunch together, Harry went back to his bedroom and, while drunk on firewhiskey, he worked on his Defense homework for Professor Vector for the rest of the evening and well into the night. He could remember every detail from the night before, unfortunately. And when he stopped working, those details would flood back into the forefront of his mind in vivid color. Hermione's breasts hoisted up in her bra… the look on Ron's face… And afterward, accidentally touching Ron's hand… There wasn't enough firewhiskey in the world to forget that.

Harry surprised himself by doing eleven chapters of the thirty available. It helped that he successfully taught himself the charm to make his quill take notes as he read. He remembered Fudge doing that once before besides seeing it in the Pensieve last night.

The next morning, Hermione sat down next to him at breakfast. Harry pretended he didn't notice her while he read the Daily Prophet.

"I know you know I'm here," she said. "I just wanted to know if you'd be available at any point this week to practice Occlumency together. We've been putting it off for far too long."

"Yeah, alright," Harry said without looking up.

"How about tonight?"

Ron sat down on her other side. Dean and Seamus were across from Harry but talking about something that Harry had never heard of, called "Pokey-mon".

"What are you two planning?" Ron asked, helping himself to breakfast.

"Occlumency practice," Hermione answered.

"Oh, yeah, I haven't practiced that at all. Who's my partner again? I forget."

"Luna, I believe," said Hermione. She turned her attention back to Harry, who was still staring down at his newspaper but was no longer reading.

"Oh right."

"I'm busy tonight," said Harry.

"Doing what?" Hermione sipped a cup of tea that she was warming her hands on.

"Er, I have to teach classes all day after Charms and then I have Independent Study with Neville."

"After that then."

"I don't know. Mondays are long for me."

"Well I know you're just as busy every other day of the week too pretty much… so we're meeting tonight after you have class with Neville, agreed?"

"Fine."

"Where shall I meet you?"

"Where would you like to meet me? I'm sure I'll choose wrong without your guidance."

Ron laughed at this.

"Okay, we'll meet in your Defense classroom then," she said, pretending she didn't mind his snarkiness.

"Fine."

"I don't see why I can't just practice with the two of you," Ron said, gazing over at the Ravenclaw table at Luna, who was wearing Spektrespecs and reading an upside-down Quibbler.

"Because that wasn't the assignment Ronald," Hermione said, looking over at him. "Do you want me to set up a meeting time with Luna for you?"

"You'd do that?"

"No. Go over there and set up a study time."

"Oh, fine." Ron actually got up and walked over to Luna and sat down. Harry glanced up and watched as she slid her Spektrespecs off and looked up at him.

"I wanted to tell you before he comes back-"

"Don't."

"Why not?"

"Because you don't want to talk about this. You just think you have to."

"Fine," Hermione said curtly. "We'll talk tonight then."

Dean looked across the table because of her tone and she visibly blushed. Harry gave her a hard look as Ron came back.

"We're going to meet during the free period we both have on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays."

"Good. Did you come up with a place to practice?"

"Oh. No…" Ron went back to Luna and talked to her again.

That evening, when Harry came back from the greenhouses, Hermione was there waiting in Harry's Defense classroom.

"Hi," she said, standing up when he came in.

"Hi," he responded. He walked past her and up the steps to his bedroom. Once he reached the landing, he took off his school tie and his school robes and unbuttoned the top button of his shirt.

"Right, are we going to do this here or in the classroom?" he said, pulling his shoes off one by one without sitting down.

"Do this?" Hermione repeated, crossing her arms.

"Practice Occlumency," Harry said without looking at her. "Unless you had something else in mind?"

"Harry!"

"What? I've still got a half a bottle of firewhiskey left."

She smacked his shoulder. "I was just-why are you taking off your shoes?"

"I'm tired and I didn't want to wear them anymore. Pure intentions, I promise."

"Yes, last night was… I don't know what that was. But please, let's put it behind us, alright?"

"You're going to say that and then attempt to look into my mind. Are you sure you want to do this?"

"We have to," Hermione said seriously.

"No we don't." Harry stood and faced her. It was hard for him to keep holding her gaze but she kept holding his and he didn't want to be the first to look away. "What did you want to tell me in the Great Hall this morning before I stopped you?"

"Oh, that." She finally looked away. "Right," she said. She twisted the hem of her shirt in her fingers, clearly thinking about something. Then, with a deep breath, she sat down next to Harry. "You remember when I was sick at the start of school and then I was in the hospital wing?"

"Yes." Harry was holding his breath. She was using her careful voice. Like the voice she'd use if she told him his broomstick was broken by the Whomping Willow.

"I was pregnant…"

"What?" Harry asked, his voice cracking.

"I was pregnant. I had a miscarriage because the Pensieve put too much strain on my heart. It was Ron's baby, obviously. He knew about it and… I don't know why we didn't tell you… I suppose I was embarrassed."

"I… I'm sorry you went through that," Harry said automatically. He wasn't sure why, but his throat had tightened. He swallowed hard and made himself keep listening to her.

"Thanks. Yeah well, Ron hadn't so much as kissed me since then. I think we were afraid to touch each other. But Halloween changed that. So we sort of have you to thank for that in a way, as strange as that sounds."

"Okay… Er…" Did she want him to say "you're welcome?" Instead, he said, "Is that why you got engaged? Were you already pregnant when…?"

"No, I only knew I was pregnant for a little while… Just long enough for it to be, well…"

"Right," Harry said, cutting her off. He stood up and she quickly followed him. "Well, let's get going. I'm tired."

"Of course," she said. "But don't you want to talk about this?"

"Not really. What is there to say?" Harry wiped his nose on his sleeve and stood up. "Do _you_ want to talk about it?"

"Not at all," she said, shaking her head.

"Okay."

She followed him down to the classroom and they both pulled their wands out. "Are you healthy now?" he asked, suddenly realizing that he had no idea how long it took to heal from a miscarriage.

"Yes, I'm fine."

"Good." He remembered making her fall down in the classroom when they'd first practiced together. He regretted that now. How much of her pain was his fault? He'd been the one to pay for the Pensieve after all. If he hadn't done that then she wouldn't have been weakened…

"Harry, I know that face," she said, lowering her wand that she'd had at the ready. "None of it was your fault. It was mine. And Ron's. We were stupid and didn't do the Contraception Charm. But don't worry, Ron told me that he did it for me last night since I, well fell asleep so soon afterward."

"What? You know I didn't, well, I mean… I couldn't have gotten you pregnant…"

"Yes, oh, yes!" Hermione said, blushing as her eyes went wide. Harry cringed inwardly. "I remember. I meant Ron."

"Of course."

He nodded and raised his wand again.

"Ready?" he asked her. She nodded and flicked her wand. Silently, she entered Harry's mind.

She only saw a bit of Harry's work in the greenhouse that he'd done with Neville an hour ago. Then, Harry shut her out of his mind without doing a shield charm or any other charm. He simply used Occlumency.

"Wow, you must have been practicing," Hermione said, lowering her wand.

"I suppose I may have been unintentionally. Occlumency is so much more useful when you have secrets."

"You had secrets back in fifth year but you didn't use it then."

"Yes, well… it was anticlimactic not knowing what was behind that door. You would have wanted to know, too." He smirked at her.

"Spoken like a true teenage boy." She rolled her eyes.

With that, he wordlessly performed Legilimency on her. She fell to the floor as he watched her memories… of Ron proposing on the edge of a wide, shining river… of checking over her shoulder with a mirror while trying to leave the twilit library on her own… of playing two-a-side Quidditch at the Burrow with Ron, Ginny and him… that's when Harry lifted the spell.

"Were you trying?" he asked her.

"Of course I was."

"Right, let's try again when you're ready."

She pushed herself to her feet.

"Are you ready?"

She nodded.

Harry did the Legilimency spell silently again. Hermione's mind was immediately opened to him once more. This time though, he found that he was able to look for memories in her mind rather than just finding them randomly. He figured this out by chance.

He was still quite worried about her health and whether she was actually healthy enough to possibly fall to the ground over and over again from practicing this. So, he unwittingly retrieved the memory of what happened after he'd left the Three Broomsticks after hitting Malfoy.

The pain had already started. Her worry over him had made it worse.

Instead of flipping to a new memory, Harry wanted to watch this one so he willed it to stay where it was in the forefront of Hermione's mind. He could feel the memory quiver off balance as though walking on a tightrope for a moment, as though it wasn't strong enough to stay balanced in Hermione's mind. But then, when Harry decided he wanted to watch the rest of the memory, it stayed where it was.

Harry saw it from her point of view, as though he were looking out from her eyes. He had to constantly tell the memory yes, he wanted to see it. The tight rope thinned to a violin string and resonated as he controlled her mind.

He watched Ron pick her up from the ground after she'd thrown up. The scent of soap was comforting, the butterbeer on his breath, his heartbeat in her ear.

"Ron, I'm…" she started. She wanted to tell him that she was alright, she could walk, but she was fighting darkness. The peaceful oblivion was too tempting, but she knew she must not give in… Her heart felt like it wanted to shatter. As it was, it was cracked in two….

And he carried her to the castle in a comforted stupor while the pain throbbed and tore at her. She'd woken to see Harry because Ron had spoken and his voice had rumbled in his chest under her ear. The way she saw Harry was far different than the way Harry saw himself, as though we were braver, older, and stronger.

But then the memory faded to black. He lifted the spell from her. She hadn't fallen over.

"So there it is," Hermione said, shrugging. She started crying.

"I'm sorry," Harry said, embarrassed. Seeing her cry, he immediately regretted watching the whole thing. What business did he have, prying into her mind this way? What business did anyone have to do this to anyone else?

Hermione covered her face in her hands, letting her wand drop to the floor and she cried harder. Harry stepped forward and hugged her. "I'm sorry," he said again.

She only laid her head on his chest and kept crying. He let her.


	49. So Easily Become a Stranger

In the following weeks, Harry found time to visit Teddy and Andromeda a handful of times while still managing to balance out his homework and the classes he was teaching. All the while, he fought the urge to drink.

He was surprised to find that teaching was making him get better at Defense, so much so that his homework for Professor Vector was what he did for fun after his other homework. He was actually sad when he was out of chapters to outline for her at the end of November. Hermione was impressed with the scroll of parchment he'd ended up with, which totaled almost a thirty meters long.

"Good," Professor Vector said, when Harry set down the huge scroll of parchment of homework on her desk. She tapped her wand on it. Her wand wrote a large goose egg on a corner of the parchment.

"A zero?" Harry said, surprised. He'd hoped at least for an 'Acceptable'.

"No it's a letter, not a number. It's an Outstanding," she said, smiling and looking down at what her wand wrote. "Excellent, Potter. Now, just don't forget to attend your practical exam at the end of the year. You may have your scroll back so you may study from it if you wish."

"Thank you, Professor," Harry said, surprised that she wasn't at least going to skim over it.

"You're welcome, _Professor_ ," she said, inclining her head to him. Harry smiled awkwardly as he picked the scroll of parchment up and left her classroom.

Harry stopped at his classroom to drop the scroll of homework off and then headed down to dinner in the Great Hall. The usual wave of sound reached him on the marble stairs as he made his way down. Ahead of him, he spied Draco Malfoy and Ginny, who since following them under the cover of the Invisibility Cloak, had become inseparable. As he neared them, Ginny looked behind her and her eyes brightened a bit at seeing him.

"Hi, Ginny," Harry said, to be polite.

"Hi," she said. Draco looked over his shoulder and saw Harry. Rather than saying anything, he grabbed Ginny's elbow and guided her over to the Slytherin table. Harry wondered about her again and wondered if she was alright. It had been weeks, months really, since he'd said much more than 'hello' to her.

He thought it was strange how he could have been so intimate with someone-thought he could marry her someday-and how that person could so easily become a stranger in such a short period of time.

Harry sat down across from Hermione and Ron, who had already started eating.

"I'm surprised you're already down here. What did Professor Vector say?" Hermione asked as Harry started serving himself, still deep in thought about Ginny.

"She tapped it with her wand and gave me an 'Outstanding'. Didn't even untie the string to make sure that there was writing on the parchment."

"Is there a spell that you can use to grade things?" Ron said. "I suppose that'd make sense."

"I have no idea," Harry said, "I suppose I should have asked her that. It'd save me some time."

"Or you could just skip assigning homework."

"But if I don't, then they come back to class the next time no better than they were the last. It's frustrating."

"Of course," Hermione said, nodding. Ron rolled his eyes.

"So anyway, I was thinking of working on some trick moves too," Ron said, clearly continuing what he'd been previously talking about. He glanced at Hermione to make sure she was paying attention, "Ginny's been working on the Wronski Feint since Seamus is such a bad Seeker. She's trading him positions and letting him play Chaser while she'll be playing Seeker and-"

"That's too bad, she's a great Chaser," Harry said, mostly to himself.

"Yeah," Ron said. "You know, you'd solve all our problems if you'd come back on the team as Seeker."

"Ginny doesn't want me on the team, I'd venture to guess. Anyway, I know you only beat Ravenclaw by ten points, but you beat them. And that's what matters."

"Yeah, because Ginny's such a great Chaser and got so many goals…" Ron shrugged.

"You're a great keeper, too. Gryffindor would have been flattened if it weren't for you," Harry said to Ron. "You've finally seemed to have gotten over your nerves."

"Well," Ron said, "Once you've killed a horcrux or two, Quidditch doesn't seem like something to be too afraid of anymore."

Harry laughed. "Well, that's probably the only good thing to have come from those bloody things." Hermione and Ron laughed at this too.

It was quiet for a moment. Then Harry said, "Has Ginny mentioned me at all?"

Hermione and Ron both looked up at him, seemingly startled.

"She hasn't said a word to me about you, mate, sorry. But I'm her brother, so…"

"Well, yes," Hermione said, glancing over at Ron. Harry watched as Ron gave Hermione an infinitesimal shake of his head. But Hermione spoke again anyway, "She said she's staying away from you for her… well for her own good, Harry. I'm sorry. She said she just doesn't think she should be around you right now."

"Right," Harry said, unshaken. Hermione looked confused but Harry didn't care. "But did she say anything else about me?"

Hermione and Ron exchanged worried looks. When neither of them said anything to this, Harry was starting to get annoyed.

"Don't you think it's strange that she and Malfoy have been spending so much time together?"

"Harry…"

"Doesn't it bother you, Ron? It's your sister and _Draco Malfoy_."

"He seems alright now," Ron said unconvincingly.

"I think there's more to it than that…" Harry said, leaning forward. "After Hal-er, a few weeks ago, I was walking around a bit with my cloak on and I followed them."

"Oh, Harry," Hermione said and then bit her lip.

"No, it's fine," Harry said shaking his head. "Malfoy mentioned Necromancy and was looking up things about it in the library, and then after they left the library Malfoy was talking about how strange it is that it'd be her instead of the Slytherins."

"What would be her?" Ron asked.

"I-well, I'm not sure."

"That's strange," Hermione said. "Are you sure he said Necromancy?"

"Yes," Harry said.

"Is that what I think it is?" Ron asked.

"Do you think it's spells that are used to make the dead come back to life?" Hermione asked, looking over at Ron. He raised his eyebrows.

"Knowing Ginny, she was probably just being curious and knew that Malfoy knew about all that dark stuff," Ron said shoving food haphazardly into his mouth.

"She _has_ always been drawn to the Dark Arts," Hermione said and then hastily added, "I hate to admit it."

"Has she?" Harry said, surprised.

"You didn't know that?"

"Clearly not," Ron said, looking a Harry.

"But she's always sort of blamed it on what happened with the diary. It makes sense, really."

"Does it?" Harry asked. "I'm just thinking maybe she's getting in over her head with whatever they were looking up. I'm worried that she's trying to bring some spirit back from the dead."

"That's bullocks. Could you imagine? Ginny magically bringing like, Voldy back and accidentally getting him attached to her own soul somehow. Ha, or better yet, what if she got him back inside your scar? It's recently vacant, after all," Ron said sarcastically.

"You can hardly talk to Ginny without Malfoy being there with her anymore," Hermione said. "I have to admit that it gives me an off feeling when I look at them."

"That's just because it's Malfoy," Ron said, "I'd be worried if you felt anything other than off when you looked at him."

"She wanted to know how to get rid of something. She asked Malfoy about it when they were reading."

"Like a raised spirit maybe?" Hermione said. "They'd mentioned Necromancy after all. It'd follow that that's what they were talking about…" Seeing the boys' faces, she hurriedly added, "But of course, we'd be able to tell if someone was walking around with a spirit in their heads."

"What about Quirrell?" Ron asked. Harry hadn't even thought of him.

"That's not the same," Hermione said, shaking her head. "Voldemort wasn't already dead when Quirrell picked him up. He was tied to life by the Horcruxes. If someone raises a spirit by Necromancy, they are necessarily bringing a spirit back from the other side of the veil."

"The veil?" Harry repeated. "Like in the Department of Mysteries?"

"No," Hermione said immediately. "Oh my God. I can't believe it took me that long to understand that. Yes, Harry, like in the Department of Mysteries."

"I've always wanted to go back to see that thing again," Harry said quietly.

"I haven't," Hermione and Ron said at the same time.

"Malfoy's been coming to all the Quidditch practices, you know," Ron said leaning toward Harry. "You never would have gone for that when you were Captain, but Ginny seems to want him there."

"They practice together too sometimes," said Hermione. "I only know because she told me. He's been teaching her things to help her with becoming Seeker."

This last detail stung Harry more than anything else that they'd said. Maybe Ginny really was moving on from Harry… and moving on to Draco Malfoy, of all people… wouldn't she have at least come to Harry for tips on playing Seeker?

"I could have shown her the Wronski Feint," Harry said quietly.

"Do you want me to talk to her?" Ron asked Harry.

"And tell her what?"

"Tell her off, more like," Ron clarified.

"No." Harry had been so sure that she was only spending time with Draco for some reason that had to do with the fact that she still liked Harry. But of course he'd only been in denial, he realized now. She had been worried that she'd be weak and go back to him again…

"Merlin," Harry said aloud. Hermione looked like she wanted to hug him but the table was in the way.

"Don't let her bother you," Ron said, "You know, she's always been sort of spoiled. She's really not that great."

"Ron," Hermione said.

Harry stared down at his plate. He wasn't hungry anymore. He stood up.

"I'm just going to…" Harry started, looking down at Hermione and Ron. He shrugged and then walked out of the Great Hall.


	50. Mandrakes

"Draco," Ginny whispered. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. They sat by themselves at the end of the Slytherin table. "I can't stand it."

"What is it telling you to do now?" Draco asked flatly.

"The same things as always, but it woke up a bit when I saw Harry just now. It wants me to kill him."

"The potion isn't working then?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Maybe we should double it. You took the Calming Draught too, right? If only Snape were still around…"

"I don't know what to do," she said, gritting her teeth. "It's like he's screaming in my ears."

Draco drew his wand and did a complicated wave. Silver sparks shot at her.

"Thank you," she said quietly. "I think I should just go to Madam Pomfrey. It's been weeks of this… I think I'm going mad…"

"You'll be expelled if they find out how this happened. You could possibly even go to Azkaban, depending-"

"I don't care at this point," she said, holding her head in her hands.

"Maybe we could just tell Potter? He'd be a bit… safer. And get Granger's nose in some books on this sort of thing. I dare say they'd help you."

"No," Ginny said at once, "No. You can't tell him. He'd be so angry."

"Yes, he would, but I still fail to see why that matters," Draco said, and took a sip of pumpkin juice. "Anyway, you can't go telling Madam Pomfrey because once you're in St. Mungo's they will label you as a dark witch and keep tabs on you. Something similar happened to Bellatrix when she was young and she was never the same after that. That's what my mother told me."

"Oh, bloody hell," she said, laying her head down on the table. Draco raised his eyebrow as he looked over at her.

"Come. Some evening Quidditch practice. Your dramatics has put me off of my food."

She lifted her head. "I'm starting to think you just like to watch me ride a broom."

"It takes your mind off of things, that's all."

They both stood and started toward the doors. "You'd better watch out though, we're playing each other in a couple of weeks. You're going to teach me all your moves."

"No, you don't know half of them," he drawled. But then he half-smiled at her and she smiled back. "I should tell you, I owled my mother yesterday morning."

"What about?"

"I asked her if you could come to visit at Malfoy Manor during Christmas break. She replied enthusiastically yes."

"Really? What did your father say?"

"He does whatever Mother says anymore," Draco said without looking at Ginny. "But in any case, we'll have full run of the library for research. I doubt father would care and Mother certainly wouldn't think we'd be up to anything in there."

"Thank you."

"Well, it's the least I could do."

"No, it's the most you could do." They were out on the grounds now. They both pulled their school robes tighter about themselves and performed warming charms on themselves. It smelled like snow, though it hadn't snowed yet.

"For the sake of honesty," Draco said as they drew nearer to the pitch, "I should tell you, I'm doing this for Potter. I owe him my life."

"I knew that already," Ginny said sadly.

"Of course. Quite obvious."

"Yeah… but Draco, I'm not his property. You can't save me for him somehow. He doesn't own me."

"Right," Draco said, nodding, "but that's not what he thinks."

Ginny grumbled at this. They took their brooms out from a locker that they'd stored them in inside the locker rooms. Then, they walked out onto the pitch, mounted their brooms and kicked off.

"Post touches to warm up then," Ginny called and Draco nodded. Together, they sped off toward the nearest goal post.

* * *

Meanwhile, Harry found himself in a greenhouse watching Neville chop Mandrakes. It was oddly disturbing. Neville wore a rubber apron over his clothes and had his sleeves rolled up past his elbows.

"I never realized that's what Professor Sprout did to them," Harry said with a disgusted look on his face.

"You could help me, you know. It'd make it go faster," Neville said.

"Why aren't you using magic?" Harry asked, looking away as Neville chopped the head off of one of the squirming little men.

"Too messy, actually. Their skin repels magic, like a troll or a giant," Neville said, wrestling with the still-moving body.

"Oh, Harry's here," came a misty voice from behind them. Harry turned, though he knew it was Luna without looking. "Hello, Harry!" she said.

"Hi Luna," he answered. "How are you?"

"I'm very well." She came up next to Harry and sat down on the table that Harry was leaning back against. "Ron is getting good at Legilimency. Unfortunately, he saw a memory of Neville and me laying together in the tunnel under the Whomping Willow. It was quite a dirty memory."

"Luna," Neville said, chopping the arm off of the struggling headless Mandrake, "That's private."

"Yes, I agree," Luna said seriously. "I wish Ron hadn't seen that. But then I saw what happened between you and Hermione and him on Halloween. He made me promise not to tell anyone."

"That's private too, Luna," Harry said warningly. "You shouldn't say that either."

"What?" Neville asked, his mouth hanging open.

"Oh, of course," she said, her eyes going even wider than they already naturally were. "But as you already knew it happened, I thought there wouldn't be a problem mentioning it. And, I have to say, I think the three of you together like that is quite sexy, even if Ginny is in love with you."

"Ginny's not in love with me," Harry said, shaking his head. Suddenly, he wished he had volunteered to chop the Mandrake apart. It would have been nice to get some aggression out right about now.

"Isn't she? It seems like she is, even though she's always spending so much time with Draco Malfoy."

"Yeah, what do you reckon, Harry? You think Malfoy is slipping her a love potion?"

"I don't know," Harry said. He walked over to the Mandrakes that Neville had lined up to chop. They were all gagged with rags so they couldn't scream and they were tied down to the table. Picking up one of the spare butcher knives, Harry started hacking at the nearest one. "I suppose… it's possible."

"That's a piss poor way to repay you for saving his life," Neville said, shaking his head. "Dean and Seamus wondered if that might be the case-the love potion. They couldn't figure any other reason she'd choose him over you."

"I don't think Malfoy likes her like that," Luna said, coming closer to the butchery. She picked up one of the wiggling arms and shook hands with it.

"If he doesn't even like her, then what's the point? Just to mess around with Harry's girl?"

"Well is it fair to call her Harry's? They weren't together for very long. I think Ginny would resent you calling her that."

"But it's like, bloke code," Neville explained, "You don't mess around with another man's girl."

"That sounds like you walk around with a bludger in one hand and you feed yourself raw meat with the other," Luna said airly.

To Harry's dismay, he saw Neville wink at Luna.

"Right, that's my cue. I'll be off."

"Oh, Harry, you don't have to leave. Neville can wait. Just this afternoon, he and I-"

"See you, Harry," Neville said, cutting across Luna.

"See you," Harry said.

As he left, Harry tried to magically clean the mud-like blood off of himself, but it wasn't easy. It was very sticky and every time magic hit the stuff, some of the magic bounced off and created more of a mess.


	51. Midterms

In the weeks following, Harry stopped fighting the urge and started drinking more heavily. At first, he would drink a butterbeer or two while grading assignments or else doing his homework. Then, after a few nights of this, he took a sip of firewhiskey. Then another.

And then, Harry woke up one morning and took a sip of firewhiskey to try to get rid of his hangover. Soon, without deciding to do so, Harry was a little drunk for a week straight leading up to midterms. No one noticed. Not even Hermione noticed, as she was far too busy studying. Harry supposed Ginny would have noticed, but she was too preoccupied with… other things… as well. And then there was also the fact that she didn't talk to Harry anymore.

Hermione only finally noticed when they stood facing each other, wands at the ready. Professor McGonagall was the only other person in the room. It was time for their Occlumency midterm.

"Harry," Hermione whispered, eyes wide as Professor McGonagall finishing up writing something. The loudest sound in the room was her quill scratching against parchment. "Are you drunk?" she mouthed to him.

"Yes, Miss," Harry whispered back, and winked at her. "Just a bit."

"Why are you drunk?" she mouthed back, her eyes wide and, Harry belatedly noticed, frightened.

"I'm… I don't know…" Harry said, shrugging.

"Right," Professor McGonagall said, standing up. Her chair groaned against the stone floor as she slid it back.

"I will be using Legilimency on both of you while you perform the test. Forgive me if I miss something as I have not practiced dual Legilimency much more than either of you have practiced normal Legilimency, I'm sure," she said, pointing her wand at each of them as she said the spell. "You may proceed."

"Do we just-" Hermione began, but Harry wordlessly performed the spell on her as she spoke. The alcohol, if anything, seemed to help his ability to control her mind. He decided on Hermione's memory of the Mountain Troll back in first year since it was innocuous. He played it out in full. Hermione wasn't able to lift the spell from herself.

"Excellent Potter," Professor McGonagall said at once. "Miss Granger, I could tell you were attempting to lift the spell from your mind. I will give you marks for your attempt. Potter, I do not believe I've ever seen anyone achieve true Legilimency on another person like that. Indeed, I myself cannot perform it as well as you just did."

"Indeed," Harry said, pressing his lips together so he wouldn't laugh.

"Yes, Potter, indeed," she said, her eyebrows furrowing. "Now, Miss Granger, your turn."

"Right, okay," Hermione said, rallying herself. She cast the spell on Harry.

Harry shut her out before a memory, even a boring one, was pulled up into the forefront of his mind.

"Did you cast the spell?" Professor McGonagall asked Hermione.

"Yes, I did," Harry said, grinning stupidly. Then he started twirling his wand like a baton and accidentally dropped it. It clattered to the floor. Professor McGonagall and Hermione both watched as Harry tried to pick it up but then accidentally kicked it away from himself. He walked over and picked up his wand.

Just as he was about to pick it up, Hermione cast the spell on him again, catching him unaware. This time, she pulled up a memory-it was Christmas time at the Burrow. Celestina Warbeck was singing about a cauldron full of hot strong love… Straightening up, this time instead of shutting her out of his mind, Harry pulled up a different memory: his own memory of the Troll in the dungeon. He was on the troll's shoulders-his wand went up the troll's nose…

But then Hermione lifted the spell.

"Very well done, both of you," Professor McGonagall said. "Potter, you are an excellent Occlumens. Dare I say, you would have been a rival for Professor Snape. Top marks."

"Thank you, Professor," Harry said. He bowed with a flourish of his hand.

"And, Potter, though it's not technically against school policy to become intoxicated on school grounds, it is heavily frowned upon. Lay off the bottle, will you? Or I'll have you checked into the hospital wing. "

"Yes, Professor," Harry said, gritting his teeth to keep himself from smiling.

"You both may go."

The next day, Harry conjured a flask and, in the style of Mad-eye Moody, he kept it tucked into his robes at his hip and sipped it all day. Meanwhile his first and second years had their midterms, which were practical exams wherein they partnered up and dueled to disarm. After skipping dinner and drinking while studying his Herbology textbook, Harry went to the greenhouses for his Herbology midterm.

"Right, so I thought your midterm could be a bit unorthodox since it's just you," Neville said. "We'll have a chat while you help me stew the Mandrakes."

"Really?" Harry asked. "Are you sure? I can just do whatever you're having everyone else do."

"They're all writing an essay. But I figure I can gauge what you know better if we talk than if I have you write something."

"Alright then. Are we going to the kitchens?"

"No, just Greenhouse twenty-three. Down this way," Neville said, waving for him to follow.

"Don't think I've ever been to that one."

"Well, that's because it's not open to the students."

Neville started asking Harry about Alihotsy leaves before they even reached the greenhouse. Harry answered as well as he could. Neville prodded him with a few leading questions though.

Neville was stirring a giant cauldron over a low fire. Harry could see hands, eyes, feet… they had potato-looking skin but the bones and eyes and organs looked human… The body parts would float up and then sink again as he stirred.

"So Gillyweed-" Neville started.

"I'm sorry Neville, but I think I'm going to vomit," Harry said. Then, he took two steps back and very calmly turned away. Then he vomited all over the floor.

"Sorry, Harry! I know the Mandrakes are pretty gross-"

Harry waved his wand and the vomit vanished.

"It's okay."

"You know what, I'm just going to give you an Exceeds Expectations. I feel confident that you know at least that much."

"No, I'm fine Neville, really. Don't worry," Harry said, wiping his mouth on his sleeve as he turned to face Neville again. He couldn't help it when he glanced at the cauldron once more. A head had floated to the top and was bobbing there like some grotesque apple. Harry pressed his lips together and looked pointedly away, willing himself not to vomit again.

"Really, let's at least go back to the other greenhouse, alright?" Neville said, leading Harry away.

"How can you stand that? That's the most disgusting thing I've ever seen, and I've seen a shriveled up bloody Voldemort lying forgotten at King's Cross."

"Er, I must have missed that part of your testimony…" They were back in the previous greenhouse. "Well, I'm giving you an Exceeds Expectations. I have a pretty firm handle on what you know from our lessons together. You can head out."

"I'm really fine, Neville."

Neville studied Harry for a moment. He seemed to be weighing something in his mind. Harry nearly drew his wand to perform Legilimency on him when Neville spoke again.

"Are you though, Harry?" he asked carefully, "I couldn't help but notice… sorry to be prying, but, your vomit smelled like firewhiskey. Did you even eat anything for dinner?"

Harry stared at Neville for a few seconds before looking away. He didn't know what to say.

"I know what it feels like to feel alone," Neville said gently. "If you need to talk about anything, you can talk to me, you know."

Harry was thoroughly embarrassed now. "I'm fine, Neville, really. I was just celebrating a bit early before the holidays, you know. But thank you, you're a good friend." And he clapped Neville a few times on the shoulder. With that, he left.

The next day, while his third and fourth years dueled for their midterms, Harry continued with taking sips of firewhiskey from his hipflask as he watched each pair. The only difference was, today he had a twinge of guilt every time he did it. Neville's measured, caring tone rang in his ears like a warning bell. But then Harry continually reassured himself that he wasn't an alcoholic. He'd only been drinking this much for a few weeks. He could stop any time he wanted. He just didn't want to. …at least, that's what he told himself.

It didn't help things that he found he was as good as he normally was, if not better, at magic while drunk. The Potions midterm on Friday before Christmas break was a breeze. He felt like he was channeling the Half Blood Prince as intuition took over while he worked. They were set a Potion that none of them had ever attempted before: Eudaimonia Elixir. It was as though the elixir itself were guiding him through it. He was done first and earned an 'Outstanding' from Professor Slughorn. He didn't even notice Hermione's annoyance.

That evening, Harry skipped Slughorn's Christmas party even though Slughorn had practically begged Harry to go… Harry knew Ginny would be there with Draco. He didn't think he could stomach it while full of firewhiskey. He told Ron and Hermione to have fun without him.

Though Ron had invited him to the Burrow like always, Harry declined. He didn't want to infringe on Ginny's holiday. Instead, he went to his parents' house in Godric's Hollow. He opened a new bottle of firewhiskey (he didn't feel like digging through his trunk for the one that he'd kept magically refilling at school) and listened to Celestina Warbeck on an old radio he found in the kitchen and watched the fire crackle in the hearth.


	52. Christmas Eve at Malfoy Manor

Two days later, Harry had just come in from laying a wreath of roses on his parents' grave, as per tradition. He stamped his boots on the doormat before entering the house. The fireplace was crackling merrily and Harry was only very mildly buzzed at the moment on a few butterbeers.

Harry had his wand out before he'd even realized there was someone else in the house.

"Bloody hell, Ron," Harry breathed out, taking his cloak off and hanging it on a hook near the door.

"It's Christmas Eve, Harry. Come on, you should be with your family."

"I haven't got any family," Harry muttered.

"I am your family. And Hermione and Mum and-"

"Did you ask Ginny?"

"Well…"

"Of course she doesn't want me there."

"She's not there, Harry. She's er…"

Harry felt his heart break all over again. "She's with Malfoy, isn't she?"

"Yeah," Ron said, scratching the back of his head. "Hermione's coming back from Australia tonight."

"Oh, I didn't know she'd gone."

"Yeah, Bill and Fleur are there."

"Fine," Harry said. "But only for a bit tonight. I won't stay over."

"Well, I'll let you explain that to Mum then."

Harry pulled his cloak back on and then they both Disapparated from the dooryard. It was snowing at the Burrow, Harry was pleasantly surprised to find. It had already stopped snowing at Godric's Hollow.

They walked up to the front door and Harry followed Ron into the kitchen. Harry hadn't noticed that he was hungry until he smelled Mrs. Weasley's biscuits baking.

"Harry, dear!" Mrs. Weasley said, enveloping him into a hug. "I'm so glad you're here."

"Thank you," Harry said, unsure what to say. The fact that Ginny wasn't here weighed on him. He oddly felt like it was his fault she'd gone to Malfoy Manor even though he knew that not to be the case.

"Hello, Harry," Mr. Weasley, said, clapping him a few times on the back. "Happy Christmas Eve!"

"Thanks, Mr. Weasley. Same to you."

"Hello, Harry," said Percy, who was just behind Mr. Weasley.

"Hi!" Harry said. And behind Harry, the kitchen door opened again. Harry stepped forward so whoever it was could come in.

"Hermione," Ron said, stepping forward past Harry and hugging her. He took her bag from her.

"Hi," she said, smiling. Multiple people said hello to her. Off toward the sink, Mrs. Weasley was talking to Fleur, who had a small bump on her lower belly.

Ron led Harry and Hermione past them to lead them through to the living room.

"Due on ze same day as ze Battle of 'Ogwarts!" Fleur said to Mrs. Weasley.

"Oh, Hermione! Good, you're here, dear!" Mrs. Weasley said, pulling Hermione's hand and then pulling her into a hug. "We have a wedding to plan AND a baby shower!"

It was quiet for a moment while Mrs. Weasley still had her arm around Hermione. Ron was clenching his jaw.

"Oh, Fleur, congratulations!" Hermione said, falsely bright. Fleur hugged her.

"Oh, thank you, dear 'Ermione!" she said, and then still holding both of her hands in hers, Fleur said, "Someday soon, eet will be you too!"

"But a wedding first!" Mrs. Weasley said cheerfully, and she kissed Hermione's forehead. Mrs. Weasley's face faltered slightly when she caught Harry's eye but then she quickly looked back to Hermione.

"Oh!" said Fleur suddenly. And without warning, she grabbed Hermione's hand and placed it on her belly. "Ze baby! She's kicking!"

"She?" Ron repeated quietly.

"Do you feel it, 'Ermione?!"

Harry looked at Hermione and saw that tears were threatening to spill from her eyes. "Yes, I do," Hermione said, staring down at Fleur's belly.

"I'm so glad to be over ze morning sickness! Oh, I know she must be a witch because mon Dieu, she already kicks so hard!"

Hermione gently pulled her hand away from Fleur's belly.

"So, we do have so much to plan," Mrs. Weasley said, turning to Hermione.

"She's tired, Mum," Ron said, with a fake smile on his face as he tried to pull Hermione away by her hand.

"Oh, oh, of course!" Mrs. Weasley said seriously. "The time difference! How are your parents?"

"They're well. They remembered me and they knew quite a bit more than last time. The pictures are helping them, and I wrote them a long letter explaining everything so they could sort of memorize it. I took them into the Pensieve a few more times yesterday and today… but it scares them."

"You are such a good daughtair," Fleur said, smiling, "I do not know if I would 'ave your strength to do what you 'ave done for them."

"Thank you," Hermione said, trying to smile back.

As Mrs. Weasley started talking to Fleur about the baby again, Ron quietly dragged Hermione out of her grasp and the three went through to the living room.

It struck Harry how so many people were missing even though the house felt full. The twins weren't here. Harry wondered where George was and if Angelina was still with him…

As they sat and had some tea and biscuits, Harry thought of Lupin and Tonks and how they should be there too. And how Ginny, who was still very much alive, wasn't even with her family for Christmas Eve either.

He wondered if it was too early to go back to Godric's Hollow.

"Come on, then," said Ron, holding up a cracker to Harry, who forced a smile onto his face. Harry tore the cracker.

"A wizard's hat," Harry said falsely-bright.

"Put it on then," Hermione said, half-smiling. He did. It was dark blue and had silver stars all over it.

"You look like Dumbledore a bit," Ron said.

"That's funny," Harry said, taking the hat off, "I always thought you looked like Dumbledore a bit."

"Me look like Dumbledore? You think so?"

"Well, we are distantly related," Mr. Weasley said from the doorway as he entered the room and sat down. "Most wizards are if you trace the lines back far enough. The whole business with muggleborn versus pureblood is really a load of codswallop."

"Mm, I've heard that," Percy said, swallowing a sip of tea where he sat a few feet away on the sofa near the fireplace. "If you trace lineage of any muggleborn witch or wizard, you will eventually find someone magical in their heritage."

"So are you trying to say… what? That we're all purebloods really?" said Hermione.

"No, no," Percy said, shaking his head, "No, I just mean that we're all related."

"Like in the biblical sense?" Harry said. He recalled Uncle Vernon hitting him with a bible once. Harry had ended up cracking it open and reading the book of Genesis out of boredom after that.

"Yeah, I suppose so," Percy said, his eyebrows furrowing.

* * *

Ginny sat near a large grandfather clock in the library. It was so quiet in Malfoy Manor that the clock's pendulum sounded loud to her. Draco sat on a sofa in front of the fireplace a few feet away. The room was cold but the fire was already helping. Ginny had conjured it without asking but Draco hadn't complained.

They both had a book in their laps. Ginny found it difficult to concentrate on what she was reading between the low light of the fire and the candles, and the sound of the clock pendulum… and the voice in her head that was like a faucet dripping on her forehead.

They'd come to the library after dinner. They'd eaten with Draco's parents in a dining room so large that the table probably could have seated twenty or more, Ginny had guessed. But it was only the four of them at one end.

Mr. Malfoy hadn't said a word the whole dinner, but Narcissa asked Ginny pleasant questions about school and Quidditch in such a way that Ginny would have never guessed that Narcissa had once been mistaken for a Death Eater. Draco often chimed into the conversation and took over talking about classes. Ginny didn't think she'd ever heard Draco talk so much. She could tell he was nervous because he kept turning his ring around his finger with his thumb. He had been the last to finish eating.

"Where are your parents?" Ginny asked quietly.

Draco glanced up from his reading. "Already in bed I suppose."

"Is this the first time you brought a girl home?"

"Yes."

"Really? You never brought Pansy Parkinson here?" Ginny asked, genuinely surprised.

"Of course not. My parents would never approve of her."

"But she's a pureblood."

"She's also, well… she was good practice."

"Practice?" Ginny said, scoffing. Draco glanced up and raised his eyebrow at her.

"You practiced too. It shouldn't come as such a shock."

"Yes, well…"

It was quiet again. Ginny was forced to listen to the grandfather clock again. _Get up NOW. Apparate to Godric's Hollow. I'm TIRED of WAITING, you little BITCH._

"Is this the room where Bellatrix tortured Hermione?" Ginny asked quickly.

"No, that was the Great Room."

"Oh."

"Mm."

Ginny looked back down at her book.

 _To dispatch a raised spirit, the host soul to which the spirit has cleaved needs be severed from the host's living body. In order to sever the body and soul, death must occur in any fashion deemed appropriate._

 _Though there are other known ways to dispatch a raised spirit as well, historically, euthanization of the possessed body has been the most popularly used by the Ministry of Magic, as it allows for complete assurance that the possessing spirit will be laid to rest once more._

"Is it always so quiet here?" Ginny asked in a choked voice.

Draco gently shut his book and turned a little to face her. He seemed to consider his answer before responding. "No, in past years friends and family would stop by. But they're all in Azkaban now. The occasional top witch or wizard from the Ministry might have stopped by as well, before Voldemort came back."

"Of course."

"Are you alright?" Draco asked, grimacing slightly. Ginny watched as he absentmindedly picked at the frayed spine of his book. _The Nightshade Guide to Necromancy_ was embossed in faded gold script over the front cover.

"As well as can be expected. The spirit hates you and he hates me and he wants me to go find Harry… but the calming spells help."

"Right, as always." He looked back down at his book and opened it again. He began turning pages to find his place again.

"Draco." She stood and set her book down on the chair she'd been sitting on. Then, she took the few steps to the sofa and sat down next to him. "Please talk to me. I can't stand the quiet."

He shut his book again but he kept his finger wedged in the book on his page. "What would you like to talk about?"

"Anything."

"The more we read, the sooner we might find a way to be rid of this nuisance."

"I know… Sorry."

And then, the book that Draco held tore itself from his grasp and flew into the air and hovered there in front of them. It slammed open and the pages turned as though they were caught in a high wind. Then, just as suddenly, the pages stopped turning. The book lay open on page 152.

"Did he do that?" Draco asked quietly.

"Yes, he wants me to read… _The spirit may not be removed by any magical means. Once a spirit has latched onto the soul of a host body, it is only a matter of time until the spirit may fully take over the will of the host._ "

Then, the book slammed shut and fell to Ginny's lap. She stared wide-eyed down at the book.

"We have to tell Potter. We need help and he isn't safe," Draco said. Ginny shook her head and then sort of bowed, covering her ears. Her tears fell onto the dusty old book and made water spots as she cried.

"Why would the spirit want me? Why not anyone else who'd been there?" Ginny said, grabbing fistfuls of her hair. "Why not that stupid boy who raised the spirit in the first place? Why me?"

"I think I know…" Draco said, barely moving his lips when he spoke. "I was just reading… It said the most vibrant life is the most attractive to a raised spirit. There is the most to take."

"I see… Well, I'll be off then." Ginny said, her voice shaking as she stood. Shoving the book into Draco's hands, she started toward the door. Draco dropped his book on the sofa and hurried after her.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to erm, take a bath."

"No you aren't." He drew his wand and with a flick, he performed Legilimency. All he saw was blackness though.

"He's gotten stronger. I can't even open my mind to you if I wanted to," Ginny said, turning to face Draco. Tears were falling down her cheek. "I feel like he's eating away at me bite by bite inside. I can't do this anymore."

"Stop it. You're talking nonsense."

"Sorry." She turned back toward the dark doorway to the library but she didn't walk away yet.

"You're not going to kill yourself, are you?" Draco asked through his teeth, crossing his arms over his chest. "Please don't. I know it's hard, but think for a minute. Everyone will think I've murdered you if you kill yourself. No one will believe it was suicide."

"Fine, then I'll leave. I'll go back to the Burrow so my mother can find me. Would that make you happy?"

"Of course not!" He strode forward and pulled her shoulder so she was forced to turn and face him again. She didn't resist.

"I just read it in that book," she said, gesturing to the one she'd left on the chair. "I have to die. It's the preferred Ministry method. They'll kill me if I don't kill myself. Go ahead and read it if you don't believe me."

"There are other ways. I know there are. There must be. There's never just one way to do anything."

"I shouldn't risk him switching bodies and taking someone else over. He could jump to you any second and then what? Then you'll have to die instead of me. There's no fair way to do this."

"That's brilliant," Draco said quietly.

"What?" Ginny asked, clearly flummoxed, "Weren't you listening to me?"

"Yes. Let's get him to jump bodies. Is it possible? Did you read it?"

"No, I don't know, I didn't read it anywhere—"

"I'll take him. I should die. I'm only alive because of Potter anyway. I should have died multiple times if it hadn't been for him."

"You're absolutely cracked," Ginny said and clearly annoying Draco, she laughed.

"I'm completely serious."

"I know. I can't control it." She laughed harder.

"Stop," he said, grabbing her shoulders as she bent awkwardly, holding herself. Tears streamed from her eyes as she kept laughing. He pulled his wand out and hit her with a calming charm. It didn't work.

He grabbed her face in both of his hands. As she laughed, he touched his lips to hers.

It was strange because she was still laughing at first. But she didn't pull away.

And then, after a few seconds, she stopped laughing. She kissed him back. Slowly, the voice quieted in her head and for the first time since Halloween, she felt truly calm.

Draco tried to pull away but she didn't want the calm to stop. She kept kissing him.

"Sorry," Draco said while his lips were still pressed against hers.

"Don't stop," she whispered. "The voice was quiet until you stopped kissing me."

Draco stepped back and let go of her. "Sorry. I thought it would work. Dementors suck your soul out through your mouth… I figured maybe he would move to me if our mouths… It was worth trying," Draco said through his teeth. "Well, then I suppose the real question is how do we entice a spirit to move bodies? I remember something of power of the witch or wizard not being an issue…"

"We'll have to read more," Ginny said, glancing over at her chair and book. She was exhausted.

"We'll figure it out later, alright? Just don't go offing yourself until we do."

"Yeah, I won't kill myself yet. But if he starts totally possessing me and I can no longer do it myself, please do me a favor and AK me? Will you at least consider it?"

"Your request is noted," Draco said flatly. "Come on, let's go to bed. It's Christmas. No more talk of killing, alright?"

Ginny watched as he picked up their books and tucked them under his arm. Then he pointed his wand at the fire and it was quickly reduced to embers. Finally, they both lit their wands and Draco led her out of the dark library into an even darker hallway.

Reflexively, she reached out for his hand and he took it, leading her up the twisting marble stairs. They were quiet except for the soft clicking of their footsteps and Voldemort's drip drip drip… _You're such a stupid whore, Ginevra. Why put off the inevitable? You should just commit suicide. I would gladly transfer to a better wizard. Just give me the opportunity. Go to Potter. I will suck out his soul from the inside and bleed him out. You are nothing, you traitorous wench. You may be a pureblood but you do not honor the name…_

She stared ahead at her wand light and concentrated on the cool touch of Draco's hand as he led her up. They walked slowly down a carpeted hallway, all the way down to the end. Then, Draco opened the door.

"Do you want me to lead you to your room or do you want to stay with me?" he asked. Though he was barely moving his lips, she was surprised to hear him say this. He'd always refused to let her stay with him at school. She had to force down a calming draught every night followed by a sleeping spell…

"You'd do that?" she whispered.

He studied her face for a moment. Then, taking her hand again, he led her into the room. He moved silently around to the far side of a huge canopied bed. The moonlight shown in through the window. Ginny turned away as he took off his shirt.

"I brought your things here this afternoon," he said. "I hope you don't feel that's too presumptuous. Your bag is at the foot of the bed."

"Thank you," she said. By wand light, she searched through the bag and found a nightgown. With her back turned to Draco, who she could hear climbing into bed, she changed out of her clothes and into the nightgown.

Turning toward the bed, she climbed in next to him. The bed was so big that he seemed like he was still across the room.

 _You little slut… I'm glad Potter chooses so poorly, it'll be fun rubbing this in his face before you kill him for me._

"I… I think maybe this wasn't such a great idea," Ginny said, sitting up again in bed. Draco sat up as well.

"Stay here, Ginevra. I don't trust that you'll keep your word. You cannot kill yourself on Christmas. Your family has been through enough."

When Ginny didn't move, Draco moved over toward her and pulled her down so she was lying down again.

As though they did this every night, Ginny turned her back to him and he held her against him.

His touch quieted the voice to a hum that she could barely hear. Within minutes, she fell asleep.

Draco, on the other hand, lay there for hours wanting badly to kiss her again but knowing that he shouldn't. After an eternity, he finally fell into a light sleep. He never let go of her all night.


	53. Happy Christmas

Harry woke up on Christmas morning on a cot in Ron's old bedroom. He and Ron had ended up playing Wizard's Chess for a few hours until he forgot that he had wanted to go back to Godric's Hollow. He had been so tired by the time Ron won the best of three games that he hadn't even considered Apparating home.

Ron was still sleeping when Harry woke up. At the end of his bed, Harry saw the usual sort of presents. He couldn't help but smile. He got a new emerald green knitted sweater from Mrs. Weasley, this time with the symbol of the Deathly Hallows knit onto the front. Ron had gotten him a book all about the Chudley Cannons, Hermione had gotten him a wand polishing kit, and there was a small parcel that was from Ginny. It was a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.

He might have been offended by the generic nature of the gift, except for one thing: he'd sent her the same thing. He'd had no idea what to give her or if she would even get him anything… so that's what he'd decided on. Looking down at the box, he couldn't help but laugh.

"What's so funny? Get a bogey flavored one?" Ron asked as he stretched.

Harry heard someone stomping up the attic stairs. He only had a few second to guess whether it was Mrs. Weasley or someone else when Hermione burst into the room.

"A copy of the kamasutra?" Hermione said, holding a book against her fluffy blue robe as though she was trying to hide it while she glared at Ron. But then she held it up to emphasize the fact that she was reading the front cover, "With Magical Addendum."

"Oh, yeah," Ron said, laughing, "Just a joke, 'Mione. Relax."

"Ron, your _mother_ saw this on the end of my bed."

"Oh, oops." Ron's ears immediately turned beet red. Harry tried to hold in his laugh.

"How am I ever going to show my face in front of her again?" Hermione said, sitting down on the end of Ron's bed in a huff.

"You know, not to be gross," Harry said carefully, "But Mrs. Weasley's had seven kids. I think she probably knew you two had at least snogged."

"But doing some sort of weird sex contortions?" Hermione yelled in a whisper.

"Oh, is that what that is? The bloke in the shop recommended it when I said I wanted something for my fiancée… I honestly didn't really know what it was other than a book about sex."

"Ron!" Hermione said between her teeth and then smacked his knee.

"What? It might be fun," he said, laughing and winking at her. Quietly, while Hermione continued fighting with Ron, Harry slipped out of bed and left the room, shutting the door quietly behind him. He couldn't help it when he glanced at Ginny's shut door to her vacant bedroom as he headed downstairs to the kitchen.

"Happy Christmas!" Mrs. Weasley said when Harry came down.

"Happy Christmas," Harry said back. "Thank you for the jumper. It's great."

"Ah, you're welcome. Thank _you_ for the new witch's robes. They're a beautiful shade of green, like your eyes."

"Thanks," Harry said, feeling hot around the collar. "I just thought… they would match your hair."

"Ah, yes, that too!" she said, smiling. Harry turned away because Mrs. Weasley made him think of Ginny then and his heart hurt.

"Harry! Thank you for these 'Popular Mechanics' magazines! They're absolutely splendid!" said Mr. Weasley.

"Ah, you're welcome!" Harry said, smiling widely.

"Now! Come on, come on, out to the shed, let's go!" Mr. Weasley came up to Harry's side and led him by tugging on his elbow.

"What?" They crossed the kitchen. "I'm not wearing shoes…"

"Oh, here," Mr. Weasley said and pointing his wand at Harry's feet, winter boots appeared there. Then, Mr. Weasley did a quick warming charm on Harry and then led him outside.

"Why are we going to the shed?" Harry asked, amused.

"You'll see!" Mr. Weasley said. Mrs. Weasley hurried along behind them in her slippers. Harry glanced back and saw that they were sinking into the snow and getting soggy but she didn't seem to mind.

They were headed toward the garden shed. Harry immediately thought of his time there with Ginny over the summer. Was this related to that?

"I, er-" Harry started, but then Mr. Weasley rushed him through the door to the shed.

* * *

"Are you really that mad?" Ron asked Hermione.

"Well, no, not mad..."

"Right, you want me to Oblivate Mum?"

"Ron…"

"I'm serious," he said, pecking her cheek with a kiss, "I will." He kissed her other cheek a little longer than the first peck.

"No need to Obliviate your mother. An apology would be nice though."

"I'm sorry," Ron said immediately, and then he kissed her neck. She leaned into his kiss.

"You're forgiven," Hermione said quietly.

"So what did you get me for Christmas?" Ron said, his lips brushing against her skin between kisses to her neck and collarbone.

"Mmm… it's er…" she said, shutting her eyes. "I brought it with me because I didn't want Harry seeing it sitting on the end of your bed…"

"Oh, is it in your pocket?" Ron said, grinning at her as he kissed the tip of her nose.

"No," said Hermione, "I'm wearing it." Then she stood up, untied her robe and let it fall from her shoulders. She was wearing a lacy blue teddy.

"I don't think it'll fit me."

Hermione laughed as Ron stood up and, wrapping his arms around her, he kissed her.

* * *

"Ta da!" said Mr. Weasley. He pulled a tarp off of it: it was a motorbike.

"It's not just any motorbike," said Mrs. Weasley from behind Harry. "It was Sirius's."

Harry stared at it. He didn't know what to say. Tears pricked at his eyes.

"Wow," he said quietly in a choked voice.

"Hagrid had it but it broke… and well, I fixed it," Mr. Weasley explained somewhat timidly. "What do you think?"

"I… this is amazing," Harry said, his face breaking into a huge smile, "Thank you so much." He hugged Mr. Weasley and then turned and hugged Mrs. Weasley.

"Oh good! I knew you'd like it!" said Mrs. Weasley.

"Would you like to take it for a spin?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"Er, I'm not quite sure how to ride it. Is it like a broom?" Harry stepped forward and started inspecting all of the gears and parts.

"Not quite. You have to turn it on and rev it and things. It's all complicated muggle things!" Mr. Weasley said excitedly. "But flying… you direct it just like a broom. You just have to make sure it doesn't stall. I've tried it out…" he whispered conspiratorially, though Harry was sure that Mrs. Weasley could still hear him. "It can go so fast, it'll make your head spin. Oh, and it's so much more comfortable than a broom… you could probably fly to Paris and back without wanting a rest."

"Sounds amazing," Harry said.

"Well, maybe after breakfast, hm?" Mrs. Weasley said. "Oh! Speaking of, I'd better get back inside before I burn all of it."

Harry laughed as she hurried away back across the wet snow.

* * *

"Mmm, Ron, I love you," Hermione whispered into his ear. She was lying in his bed with him, wrapped tightly in his arms.

"I love you too, 'Mione," he whispered back and kissed her forehead.

"I don't know if the rest of our lives is going to be long enough to spend together," she said quietly and kissed his cheek.

"Yeah," Ron said seriously. He touched his forehead to hers. "I feel the same way."

"Really?"

"Yes. You're amazing in every imaginable way."

"Thank you," she said, smiling. "You're amazing in ways that I hadn't even imagined." She ran her hand down his chest and felt as he laughed silently.

"I hope every Christmas can start like this," Ron said.

"Mmm, me too…"

"You've made one of my fantasies come true today, you know." He played with the lace along Hermione's hip.

"Mine too, actually."

"Really?" Ron said. He leaned up a bit and rested his head on his bent arm. "What are your other fantasies? We'll should do more of them."

* * *

When Ginny woke up on Christmas morning, she was warm. Draco was still holding her. It seemed that neither of them had moved all night. Somehow, she knew she couldn't hear the voice in her head because he was holding her.

Peeking down at the end of her bed, she spied that they both had a small pile of presents.

"Happy Christmas, Draco," Ginny said softly. She kissed his cheek.

He woke up slowly. "What time is it?" he asked groggily.

"I don't know. It's morning."

"Mm. Let's go back to sleep."

"Come on, you have to open your presents…" she said, laughing lightly.

"I already have everything I want," he said and pulled her closer.

"You do?" Ginny asked meekly. Draco opened his eyes again.

"I mean… I don't know what I meant. I'm spoiled, that's all." He let go of her and sat up in bed.

Immediately the voice started in her head again. She endured it by trying to concentrate on the presents. She got a sweater from her mother, it looked like.

She got up and joined Draco at the end of the bed.

"How did you sleep?" she asked him.

"Not bad… you?"

"I slept like the dead. It was great. I'd love to sleep like that more often, honestly."

"Right, well…" Draco said. Ginny watched has he bent gracefully over the pile and handed her a wrapped present. "This one's from me."

"You didn't have to get me anything," Ginny said. She took it from him and surprisingly, he smiled. She hardly ever saw him smile.

She opened the present. It was a necklace. On a thin gold chain, a shining black stone hung from it. She stared at it for a moment. "It's not cursed, is it?"

Draco laughed uncomfortably. "Of course not… at least, I doubt it. It was a stone I found in the Forbidden Forest. I thought it was beautiful so I picked it up while I was on a walk one day. Mother wanted to have it set in a festoon, but I knew you wouldn't like anything too ornate. So I had the jeweler change it to a bail instead."

Ginny wondered what a festoon was but just nodded instead as though she understood.

"You're right," she said instead, "It really is beautiful."

Draco smiled at her and she smiled back.

Instead of using magic, he picked it up and she watched his long fingers as he unclasped it. Then, he gently brushed her hair aside and clasped the necklace so the necklace hung around her neck. She readjusted her hair and turned to face him again.

"It's lovely, Draco, thank you," she said. Then, reaching up, she kissed his cheek.

"You're welcome."

"Well, you might as well open your present from me. It's there," she said, pointing to a large package wrapped in brown paper and string. "You can return it if you already have one."

He opened it. It was a broom servicing kit. "Thank you," he said. "I don't have one. This will come in handy on the pitch after you spray mud all over me for the thousandth time when you land too hard."

"I do that on purpose."

"I never said you didn't," he said, and laughed.

After getting dressed, they breakfasted with Narcissa and Lucius. Then, Ginny invited Draco to the Burrow. She figured Harry wouldn't be there, nor would be most of her brothers. Ron and Hermione would have to be civil… which she knew might be asking a lot of Ron, but Hermione would probably keep him in line. She knew if Draco said no, she was unlikely to see her parents for Christmas but that was alright. She wasn't going to risk going without him. She never knew how much control Voldemort would have on her any given day that she woke up. As it was, he had far too much control already.

In any case, Draco accepted. He admitted there wasn't a lot to do at Malfoy Manor, though she noticed that he seemed nervous.

She brought her things back to the Burrow and, upon her insistence, Draco brought a few things with him as well. Together, they Disapparated from the front gate of Malfoy Manor.

They Apparated to just outside of the front gate of the Weasleys' garden.

"Welcome," Ginny said, bracing herself. She took his hand so that the voice in her head would dull down a bit. She wanted to hug him but she also wanted to come in out of the cold.

They started up the garden. "What do you think?" she asked, not caring if he insulted her.

"It looks… cozy."

"It is cozy. It's home," she said, smiling. They passed by the garden shed and went into the kitchen. Mrs. Weasley was at the stove.

"Back in already? I would have thought-oh! Ginny, and Mr. Malfoy!" she said, turning and startling. "What a pleasant surprise!" Ginny could immediately tell that something was up with her mother, who was hugging her too tightly.

"Hi, Mum."

"You can call me Draco, please," said Draco.

"Alright, call me Molly then, if you like," said Mrs. Weasley. Draco nodded and half-smiled and half-grimaced. "Well, come in, come in. Have a seat. Breakfast is almost ready."

"What did 'e theenk?" Fleur said, hurrying down the steps as fast as she could with her belly ahead of her. "Did 'e like eet? Oh! Ginny! And you 'ave brought a guest! A Malfoy, oui?"

"Yes, Draco Malfoy, I don't think we've ever been properly introduced," Draco said, standing and holding out his hand to shake Fleur's. Fleur looked down at his hand.

"No, we 'ave not, but I remember you from ze battle. Your parents-"

"Were formally pardoned, which was very good. Everyone knows what Mrs. Malfoy did was a brave act," Mrs. Weasley cut in turning with an eggy spatula in her hand.

"I suppose," said Fleur, raising an eyebrow at Draco as she sat down as far away from him as possible. Bill followed her in a minute later and said a polite hello to Draco and gave Ginny a hug.

"Didn't think we'd get to see you for Christmas," he said, smiling.

"Well, here I am."

Then, Hermione and Ron came downstairs, both fully dressed and smiling.

"Happy Christmas!" Hermione said to the room at large. Ginny watched as her face fell. Ron's did too. It was almost comical. She wondered if she and Draco shouldn't just go back to Malfoy Manor.

And then the kitchen door opened. Mr. Weasley walked in.

"Ah, what a happy Christmas! Hello Ginny! And Mr. Malfoy, hello!" Mr. Weasley stepped forward and kissed the top of Ginny's head and then ambled toward the head of the table. As her father moved away, Ginny saw Harry there behind him.

Her heart stopped. She felt Draco's firm grip on her arm as she stood.

"We should be going. Just wanted to stop by," Draco said, standing too, but she barely heard him.

 _Take your wand out and kill him. GET HIM, NOW, YOU LAME SQUIB BITCH! MAKE HIM BLEED._

Ginny drew her wand.


	54. New Year's at Godric's Hollow

Harry watched as Ginny stood up and faced him. She was blankly staring at him. He saw Draco touch her, heard him mention leaving. Harry thought of leaving too, but seeing Ginny there, he couldn't get himself to move. He didn't notice that everyone in the room had stopped moving and talking, even Draco. Everyone was watching them.

He'd barely looked at her over the last few months, let alone this closely. Yes, they had a few classes together, but she sat next to Draco as far away as possible from Harry; further, Harry preferred not to look at her as it caused him pain every time he did.

There were gray, bruised crescents under her eyes as though she hadn't slept for a month straight. She was thinner than she had been in a sickly sort of way. She stood in a hunched posture, as though she wanted to be smaller than she already was. It all looked so strange to Harry, who was used to looking at Ginny and seeing only marks of health and beauty.

"What… what's wrong with you?" Harry said shaking his head. And then Harry saw that she was reaching for her wand. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up.

He was quicker than her-he drew his wand.

" _Protego,_ " he bellowed as Ginny raised her wand, but then Draco wrenched it from her grasp and threw it across the room. Ron reflexively caught it.

Harry felt his heart crush in a vice as he watched Draco pull Ginny into his arms. "Ginny, Ginny… you're alright…" he was saying quietly. Hermione was covering her gaping mouth, Harry noticed at a glance.

"I'll be off," Harry said, breaking his _Protego_ charm. "Happy Christmas everyone," he said. Everyone was still too stunned at what had just happened to say anything to him by the time he'd turned around and left.

He Apparated back to Godric's Hollow from the garden. Once inside his parents'-his-house, he shut the door, sat down on the bottom steps of the staircase and held his head in his hands.

Once it was back to a dull burning feeling, he wiped the tears from his eyes.

He couldn't stand seeing Draco touch Ginny. He wanted to ask why this had happened but he was afraid to. He didn't want to know why she'd chosen Draco over him. Any reason would ultimately be a painful one.

As Harry rummaged through the kitchen cupboards for Firewhiskey, he heard two loud cracks in the front yard. He was afraid for a minute that Draco and Ginny had followed him here. He opened the door.

It was Ron and Hermione. Ron's arms were laden with parcels, Hermione's with a basket of food and her beaded bag.

"We're gatecrashing your party. Hope you don't mind," Ron said as he followed Hermione into the house. Harry shut the door behind them.

"We brought your gifts," Hermione explained as Ron set the pile down in the living room. "We'll understand if you want us to leave, but Mrs. Weasley also made a quick basket of breakfast for the three of us if you let us stay."

"Or you could just have it and we'll leave," Ron said, "Though, she packed enough for me, so I don't think you'd be able to finish it all."

Harry cracked a smile. "Come on, of course I want you to stay. You could move in and I wouldn't mind."

"Good, I'll set up the table then," Hermione said, smiling at Harry before turning and heading into the dining room. Ron stepped forward and patted Harry's shoulder a few times.

"Yeah," Ron said, letting his arm fall again. "Mum wasn't very happy that Ginny was pulling her wand on you… she was quite worried. I had to stop her from coming over here…"

"Oh."

"Why _was_ Ginny pulling her wand on you? Did you two have another fight?"

"No," Harry said, shaking his head, "I actually don't really know why she was pulling her wand on me. It was weird. I mean, I know she wasn't happy about how I fought with Draco, but that was months ago."

"Right," said Ron. "Oh, by the way, my dad said he'd bring the motorbike 'round later on."

"Oh, yeah, okay," Harry said, nodding.

The motorbike proved to be an excellent diversion for Harry over the next few days while living in Godric's Hollow. Mr. Weasley had been right-it was amazing. Not amazing enough to get Harry to stop drinking, but still amazing nevertheless. Hermione even enjoyed riding it (with Ron).

On New Year's Day, Ron announced that he would make the three of them dinner because apparently he'd been "reading up" on magical cooking. He'd kicked Hermione and Harry out of the kitchen, so instead, they sat in the living room. The fireplace had a blue fire in it, courtesy of Hermione.

"Harry, we need to talk about something," she said, gazing at the fire she'd created.

"What?" Harry took a sip of his "water" which was half Firewhiskey.

"Will you promise me you won't get upset?" she said, glancing at him and then looked back at the fire.

Harry worried that she'd remembered their tryst over the summer.

"Are you sure you want to talk about this?" he asked quietly, glancing back at the door to the kitchen.

"Yes," Hermione said, seeming to steel herself, "Harry, I think you might have a drinking problem."

"What?" he asked sharply. He set his "water" down on the side table nearby. "I do not have a drinking problem. Were you talking to Neville about me?"

"Neville?" Hermione asked, obviously confused. "No. What does Neville have to do with anything?"

"Nothing…" Harry said, standing. "Look, I just like the taste, that's all. I've been sort of trying to make happier memories while drinking Firewhiskey so I don't always think it's something to drink when something bad happens."

"That's very poor logic indeed."

"It'd only be a problem if I couldn't stop drinking. And I can. I just choose not to."

Hermione pulled his wrist and he sat back down next to her. "I'd be quiet or Ron will cotton on."

"He hasn't noticed my little problem yet? I'm surprised you two didn't talk about me like you're my parents like you normally would."

Hermione clenched her jaw. Harry knew she was trying to keep control of the conversation, which he found mildly amusing. He watched as she calmed herself and then waited while she spoke again. "Ron and I care very much about you. We want you to be happy and not kill yourself slowly through booze."

"How would you prefer I kill myself slowly then? I could let myself throw up blood again. That was fun, don't you agree?"

"I certainly do not agree. That's not what I meant at all-"

"The alcohol keeps me calm. I haven't had one freakish medical problem since I started drinking this much, I'll have you know."

"So you're doing this to battle your PTMD? What does Madam Pomfrey think about this?"

"She has no idea because I stopped going to our little talks."

"Harry…"

And then, from in the kitchen, Ron called, "Bon Ape-tit!"

Harry laughed hard at this while Hermione only rolled her eyes.

"This discussion isn't over," she whispered as they both stood.

"Yes, Miss."

They sat down and Ron plated their food for them and then sat down as well. "It's Beef Wellington, red skin mash, and a tossed salad with red wine vinegarette."

"Wow," said Hermione. "This is the sort of thing my mother would make for Christmas day dinner. You just made this in… what? Twenty minutes?"

"Well, magic helps," Ron said, shrugging as he poured the three of them wine.

Hermione swallowed her first bite. "Ron!" she exclaimed.

"What?" he asked apprehensively, "Too much salt? It might not be done enough…"

"This is absolutely amazing. You could be a professional chef."

"Nah," Ron said. His ears were bright red.

Harry took a bite: Hermione was right. This was better than anything he'd ever eaten at Hogwarts, and that was saying something. "Ron, why didn't you cook for us last year in the tent?" Harry asked and then hastily added, "No offense, Hermione."

"I don't know. I didn't think I knew how. But I read through a couple of cookbooks… and years of watching Mum cook… I just didn't know it was this easy."

"Er, no. Cooking is not easy. You've just got a knack for it apparently." Hermione stopped talking so she could continue eating. Harry was quiet too for the same reason.

"Well, it might be beginner's luck," Ron said to Hermione . "But, I was thinking… you and I could be a bit untraditional when it came to household things maybe?" He was watching Hermione closely, who was dancing a little bit in her chair as she ate. "I'll do the cooking and cleaning and things while you go off and make a big career for yourself at the Ministry. That way you don't have to do the cooking and things after coming home from work."

"Well," Hermione said, swallowing. She took a sip of wine before responding. "I love the idea that you would cook obviously. I hate cooking and I'm honestly not the best at it, as you already know… But I think you should make a career for yourself too. There's no reason we both can't do it."

Harry felt like he should take his plate into the living room so they could have a private conversation. He took a large gulp of wine instead and leaned back in his chair, watching them as though he were watching television.

"Well, maybe I will work for the ministry too then, but if… well, if we have kids someday, I'll be the one staying home with them, alright?"

"Yeah," Hermione said without looking up from her plate, "Alright… We may never have kids though, so…"

"Right," Ron said. Ron glanced at Harry and sort of grimaced, as if he were asking him for help.

"Of course you'll have kids," Harry said. Hermione looked up at him. "I'm sorry if I shouldn't say this, but Hermione, you got pregnant the _first_ time you… well you know. That's not very common. It'll happen again when you're ready. You'll see."

"I hope you're right," Hermione said, glancing to Ron and half-smiling at him. He smiled back at her.

"It's just funny," said Ron, "how you can think you know what you want but then life changes things and then you want what you didn't want before…"

"Right," said Hermione, scrunching her nose.

"Whatever you say," said Harry.


	55. Storm Clouds

Two days later, Harry, Ron and Hermione Apparated back to Hogwarts with their trunks in tow. It was snowing so hard that they could barely see two feet in front of themselves as they trudged up the lane back to the castle.

Monday morning, Harry decided he wasn't going to start the day with alcohol. He made it to Charms class thoroughly hung over and wished he hadn't had the pumpkin juice he'd forced down at breakfast. He felt like he needed to throw up.

"I trust everyone had a good Christmas break!" squeaked Professor Flitwick. "So now that we've thoroughly covered the multiple types of advanced defensive, concealment, engorgement and protective charms, it is time to move on to the next subject you will need to know for your N.E.W.T. That is, the advanced study of weather charms!"

Harry was only half-listening to Professor Flitwick, who bounced on the balls of his feet slightly as he spoke. "That's right, class, once you're ready for your N.E.W.T.s, you will be able to control the weather. Storms, snow squalls, draught, bright, sunny days-if you study and practice well, these should be within your control by the end of this school year."

Instead of paying attention, Harry was watching Ginny and Draco, who were sitting two seats forward and one over from Harry and Ron (Hermione wanted to sit in the front).

"But a word of caution, if you cause harm to anyone-particularly muggles-through the misuse of these charms, you will likely find yourself a reserved seat in Azkaban. So take care!" said Professor Flitwick. "Take out your wands and please open your books to page four-hundred eighty-eight and we'll get cracking!"

Harry watched as Draco reached into the pocket of his robes and then pulled out two wands. He handed one of the wands to Ginny.

Why did Draco Malfoy have Ginny's wand in his pocket? Was he actually controlling when she could perform magic?

Harry gritted his teeth. Of course Malfoy would be an overprotective, controlling boyfriend. It suited him.

"Did you see that?" Harry whispered to Ron.

"See what?"

"Nothing."

"So!" continued Flitwick. Harry looked up at the front of the room and was not surprised: Flitwick had a cloud floating near his head. "I will conjure you each your own individual cloud. It will be up to you to first turn it into a storm cloud, and then turn it into light, whispy clouds. As the book describes, you must do so without verbal incantation, and use a wand motion like so." Flitwick performed the magic quickly and perfectly. "Right, off you go!"

Everyone pushed their chairs back and stood while Flitwick walked around the class, making a white fluffy cloud in front of each student.

Harry ruminated the rest of the day (as much as he could while teaching classes, anyway) about how Draco had been holding Ginny's wand. He knew he shouldn't do anything or say anything. He'd probably only make Ginny hate him even more. But, Harry figured, what did that matter anymore? She already wanted to hex him. He could still protect her, even if she hated him. How much worse could he possibly make it by at least talking to Draco?

The next morning, Harry didn't bother trying not to drink. He started the morning with a large gulp of Firewhiskey. He felt normal once he did it, which frightened him, but he tried not to think about it.

"Harry, you did it!" said Hermione. Harry again was drinking pumpkin juice this morning but he didn't feel like he needed to throw up. Pumpkin juice tasted better with a little alcohol in it anyway.

"Did what?" Harry asked. For a second, he thought she'd caught him sneaking a bit of alcohol from his flask into his cup.

"Rita Skeeter ran that article a few weeks ago about how you didn't like dementors, and-"

"Oh she did?" Harry asked, relaxing. He took another sip of his pumpkin juice. "I must have missed it."

"Yes," said Hermione, "and anyway, I guess that got a lot of other people sort of railing against them and, well, it says they thought about getting rid of them, but they're making it so they can no longer perform the 'kiss' and they're severely limiting prisoners' access to them. They're going to have actual human guards who will have protectively enchanted armor so they prisoner's can't harm them… they've already culled the dementor hoard down to half the original numbers…" Hermione kept reading for a minute before she continued. "Well, it's a start," she said smiling.

"Good job, mate," Ron said to Harry smiling.

"I didn't do anything other than rant at Rita Skeeter for a few minutes."

"But you used your power to do something good," Hermione said, "That's very admirable."

"Huh," said Harry. He'd never really thought about purposefully using his fame to do anything like this. Maybe if he kept speaking out about Dementors, he could actually get the Ministry to do away with them all together. "How did they 'cull the dementor hoard'? I didn't know that was possible."

"Well, back in the beginning of this year, when we were set the essay for the differences between the different _lumos_ spells, I do remember reading something about it…"

"Of course you did. So there's a way to kill a dementor? That would be pretty handy to know," Ron said with a mouthful of eggs.

"You have to pull back their hoods and stab them in the head with your wand while performing _lumos solem,_ It's extremely dangerous because the dementor is likely to attempt to perform the 'kiss' on anyone who tries it."

"Did that happen to anyone when they got rid of half of the dementors?" Harry asked.

"The article doesn't say," Hermione said, shaking her head as she skimmed over the article again.

"I'm sure it would have mentioned it if anyone died," Ron said, "They usually like to report that sort of thing."

"Mm," said Harry. He was distracted by the fact that Draco and Ginny had just walked into the Great Hall. Draco's arm was slung around Ginny's waist. She looked pale even from across the room.

Hermione and Ron looked over their shoulders at what Harry was looking at.

"She looks sick," said Harry. "Something's wrong."

"Does she?" Ron asked uncomfortably.

"What makes you think something is wrong?" Hermione asked. Harry looked at her. She was genuinely curious.

"I don't know," Harry said, "'Scuse me. I'm just going to have a word with him."

"Want me to come with you?" Ron offered while at the same time, Hermione said, "Harry, no! Not in front of everyone…"

But whatever else she said, Harry didn't hear because he was walking to the Slytherin table. He sat down across from Ginny and Draco before either of them looked up at him.

"Potter," Draco whispered. Harry saw immediately that he seemed scared. Well, he should be.

Ginny had only glanced at Harry before staring down at the table. Her arms were wrapped around her chest as though she were freezing cold. Draco's hand was squeezing her shoulder so tightly that his fingers were bone white.

"You need to stop keeping Ginny's wand away from her. You're being over-controlling and I won't stand for it."

"Mind your own business, Potter," Draco said through his teeth. "Go on back to Granger and Weasley. They look like they want a word with you."

"You need to give Ginny some space. She practically looks like she needs to see Madam Pomfrey. I don't know what-"

"Go away," Ginny said. Though she whispered, Harry had heard her perfectly clearly. She looked up at him and her brown eyes seemed to darken as she gazed at him.

Harry braced himself for her to start yelling at him, but instead, she turned her face into Draco's shoulder and started shivering.

"What the bloody hell is wrong with you, Ginny?" Harry said a little louder than he intended.

Ginny lifted her head from Draco's shoulder and jutted her chin out a little. "Nothing, other than I wish you would die."

"Die? You wish I would _die_?" Harry said. He almost laughed and yet he felt like the floor was dropping out from under him. Slowly, he stood up again.

"Look, I just…" Harry started, but he didn't know what he could possibly say to make any of it better. Instead, he muttered, "Nevermind." He turned and walked back to the Gryffindor table.


	56. Transfiguration of the Self

In Transfiguration, the more Harry tried not to look at Ginny, the more he found himself looking at her. He was just about to get up and leave to go get more Firewhiskey (he'd already emptied his flask) when Professor McGonagall started the class.

"Welcome back," she said, striding around her desk and facing the class. "The first half of the year you practiced Occlumency and Legilimency outside of class while we studied other topics within the class setting. The second half of the year will not be structured in this same way. Rather, the rest of the class time, as well as study time, will be dedicated to the study of Transfiguration of the Self. It is so difficult that I will not be surprised when there are some among you that are unable to fully achieve this magic."

"Transfigure the self?" said Ron, "You mean like what Polyjuice does?"

"Thank you for your input, Mr. Weasley," said McGonagall dryly, "Yes, Polyjuice will Transfigure you to another person. However, Polyjuice takes a great deal of forethought. You must brew it for months before use and then you must procure a bit of the person you wish Transfigure into.

"Essentially, you will perform the same exact magic in this class that the Polyjuice Potion performs for you. However, Transfiguration of the Self does not require months of Potioneering. It simply requires extreme attention to detail. The more you _know_ about the person you Transfigure into, the more you will resemble that person. This may take some witches or wizards months of work as well; for others though, it will take mere seconds. A glance, even. The stronger the Transfiguration spell used, the longer the Transfiguration will last.

"There is subtly to each body part when performing Transfiguration. For example, when Transfiguring your own eyes, it is possible to change the color, as well as the shape of the eyelid, but you cannot change the actual size of the eyeball, nor the brightness or light that some perceive within eyes. That will always remain the same and can often be the greatest tell when trying to identify the person that has performed Self-Transfiguration.

"The only advice I can offer is this: the spell will hold only if you allow yourself to believe you truly are becoming that you're Transfiguring into. The second you allow yourself to think you are yourself, the magic within you will believe you as well."

She started walking slowly back around to stand behind her desk. "Instead of the Sorting Hat, I will place you in pairs for the rest of the year. I have based these pairings on how well you did with Occlumency and Legiliemency as well as who I believe would work well together.

"Right, Mr. Thomas, I have paired you with Miss Patil." She gestured to Parvati. "Mr. Finnegan—"

"Erm, sorry Professor," Dean said, raising his hand as he spoke, "But I'm going to be paired with a girl? Is that… er, appropriate?"

"Why wouldn't it be appropriate?" McGonagall asked sharply.

"Well…" Dean said, glancing around for help.

"I think he's getting at the fact he will inadvertently be able to see Parvati naked by doing this, Professor," Ron said, raising his eyebrows and smirking.

"And when some of you become researchers or Aurors or the like for the Ministry next year, you will have an easier time going undercover if you already are familiar with Transfiguring into the opposite sex. I hardly feel the necessity to justify myself, but I assure you the pairings were entirely intentional."

Dean grimaced. Parvati was gaping at Professor McGonagall.

"Mr. Finnegan, you will be with Miss Patil-Padma, that is… Mr. Smith, with Miss Lovegood, Mr. Weasley, with Miss Abbott, Mr. Malfoy with Miss Granger and Mr. Potter, you'll be with Miss Weasley."

"No!" Ginny said loudly. Everyone turned to look at her. Ginny stood, holding onto Draco's shoulder, seemingly for support. "I'm sorry Professor, but please, no. I refuse to be paired with Harry. I'm sorry. Please, don't make me be paired with him. I can't..."

It was silent for a minute while McGonagall studied Ginny's face. "Why ever not?" she asked.

"I…" Ginny said, glancing to Draco.

"I don't think it'd be a good idea either," Harry said, standing up. "She's tried to hex me before… we're, er…" Harry watched Seamus and Dean exchange looks. Ron was hiding his face in his hands.

"Right, I can see this particular pairing might not be a very… appropriate one… right, well, you can stay with Mr. Malfoy as your partner, and Miss Granger, you'll keep with Potter for this semester as well… anyone else with such fervent objections? No? Good. Well, I insist you read chapters fifteen through twenty on this topic. Also, you will each need to complete thirty-six inches on the topic to be turned in by next month. The remainder of the class time and all the others until the final and your N.E.W.T. exam will be devoted to the practice.

"I recommend that you start with copying each other's noses, mouths, and hair as you will undoubtedly be the most familiar your partner's face. Now, up and off you go. I'll leave you all to it."

And with that, McGonagall sat down at her desk and started reading what appeared to be her post.

"Well," said Hermione once she came back to Harry's table where he'd been sitting next to Ron, "here we are again."

"Disappointed not to be paired with Ron?" Harry said. He pulled out his wand.

"No, this is purely study, Harry. There's nothing sexual about this." She pulled her wand from her pocket as well.

"Of course… I should tell you, I haven't read the chapters."

"Well, I have, so I can coach you if you like."

"Erm, okay."

"Sorry, by the way," Hermione said quietly, "About Ginny. I'm going to have a talk with her. I don't understand it…"

"It's fine," Harry said, though honestly he was glad that Hermione was going to talk to her. He thought someone ought to besides him.

"No, after you mentioned her looking sick at breakfast, I took a look at her… she really does. I agree, that something might be wrong with her." And then Hermione's face when white. "Oh Merlin, Harry, do you think she might be pregnant? That would explain it maybe."

"Pregnant? No, why would she… no. Of course not."

"Well, I mean… she could be. It would explain why she looks so pale. Maybe she's weak from the baby."

"No," Harry said, "She doesn't have a belly, any anyway it couldn't be, because she and I always used the charm."

"Well, there are concealment charms for a pregnant belly, and anyway, she's with Malfoy now," Hermione said evenly, glancing over at them. Ginny and Draco were sitting hip-to-hip on one of the desks, Draco's arm slung around her. They were whispering quietly to one another.

"So?" Harry said. His stomach churned. He just assumed that they'd never had sex but now that Hermione said that, he felt sure that they must have. Ginny wasn't one to wait, Harry knew. "I think I'm going to be sick," Harry said hoarsely.

Hermione shot silver sparks at Harry, which immediately calmed his stomach.

"Thanks," Harry said, swallowing hard.

"Speaking of concealing medical problems," Hermione said. She took a deep huff of breath, "I really think you should see Madam Pomfrey about it, Harry. I'll go with you if you want me to. I won't say anything. There are potions you can take to help with the urges to drink…"

"Oh, there are potions? Well that sounds splendid. Sign me up."

"Please just consider it, alright?"

Harry only shrugged.

The rest of the class had already started attempting to Transfigure themselves into their partners with varying levels of success. Zacharias Smith now had long blonde hair exactly like Luna's. Likewise, Hannah Abbott had a long hook nose almost identical to Ron's.

"I'll have to be careful how good I get at this," Harry said, "I don't want to earn myself another kiss from Ron, even accidental."

"You don't need to look any differently for that though." Hermione laughed.


	57. Practicing with Partners

A week or so later, the Transfiguration class was having some difficulty with their homework.

Harry and Hermione stood facing one another in his professor's quarters. Harry wasn't wearing a shirt. Neither was Hermione.

"This is so strange," said Hermione, shaking her head. "I can't believe that wizarding parents know about this and they're alright with it. But then, I suppose we're all of age…"

Harry was having a difficult time concentrating on Hermione's words. Yes, he knew he didn't have feelings for her… at least not anymore. But he was still a man. And her breasts were slightly too big for her white cotton bra.

He was really just sad that he wasn't Ginny's study partner right now. But also relieved, as she so adamantly didn't want to be his partner…

"Right you go first I think," Harry said, gesturing to his own chest.

"Alright," Hermione said, concentrating hard. She gazed at Harry's chest as though she was going to paint a picture of him.

"You have a scar there," she said, pointing to his chest.

"Scratched myself jumping into a tree when I was ten," Harry explained.

"Jumping into a tree?" Hermione said, but then she shook her head. "Alright…" Then, she waved her wand at herself and suddenly, though she was still wearing her bra, she had Harry's chest, even the scar.

"Why are you so good at this?" Harry said, shaking his head. He stepped closer without meaning to. She not only got his chest hair right, but also got the same pattern, including the small black trail below his belly button.

"Right," she said. She waved her wand again and her chest was put back to normal. "Your turn."

"Er, so… I'm not wearing a bra… this is so bloody strange," Harry said, making a face at her.

"I've seen my own breasts before. It's alright."

"Yeah, but…"

"Well, right. _You_ haven't seen my breasts," Hermione clarified. Harry though wildly how he actually had and how she didn't know this anymore… He felt dirty.

"Right," he said, looking down at the floor.

"But it's good. It's fine. Really…"

Harry said, grimacing slightly, "Fine. I'm just going to do it and then put it back. Got it?"

"Of course."

Harry waved his wand at his own chest. His hair disappeared, his abdomen softened so it curved instead of went down in straight lines… And his pectorals turned into breasts about the size of Hermione's.

"Wow," said Hermione, stepping forward.

Harry looked up at the ceiling, trying not to look at his own chest. "Alright, I'm putting it back."

"How did you know I have a freckle there?" Hermione said, pointing at Harry's chest.

Quickly, he waved his wand at himself and put his chest back to normal. "What? What are you talking about?"

"I have a freckle on my left breast. Have you seen my breasts before?" she asked, her eyes going wide.

"Er, no. It was a good guess I suppose. I don't know," Harry said. He felt heat radiating from his naked chest.

* * *

Draco and Ginny stood before each other in a normally unused Potions classroom down in the dungeons. They had surrounded themselves in candlelight and had triple-charmed the door locked.

They both were completely naked. They stood within an arm's length of each other so that if Ginny needed to, she could grab onto Draco to calm herself.

"Okay," Ginny said, "I'll um… Draco…" She was staring down at his pelvic area.

"I'm sorry, alright?" Draco said. "You are bloody gorgeous. Just don't look at it."

Ginny pulled her gaze away.

"So, alright, I'll go first," Draco said. He Transfigured his entire body to look like Ginny's, but the Transfiguration only held for a few seconds before he turned into himself again without meaning to. Ginny was surprised that when he Transfigured back to himself, he was still erect. She tried to not look at him but couldn't help but glance down once in a while.

"Pretty good job," she said. "Didn't last long though."

"That's unusual for me," Draco smirked.

She raised her eyebrows at him. "You didn't give yourself enough freckles. I have more freckles where the sun has shone on me…"

"Alright. Your turn," Draco said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Do I have to make myself like that?" Ginny said, laughing and pointing at him.

"If you like," Draco said through his teeth.

* * *

"I think you've got my face perfectly," said Hannah to Ron. They were in the Room of Requirement. There were only candles around them.

"Yeah?" Ron said, but as he spoke, his face Transfigured back into himself again.

"Would you want to try our bodies now?" she asked, grimacing delicately.

"Uh… do we have to? No offense! I just mean, well… I suppose I don't know what I mean." To Ron's relief, she didn't seem offended.

"Yeah, I think we do have to. I don't want to be doing it for the first time for Finals."

"Do you think we'll have to all go naked in front of McGonagall?"

"I suppose so," Hannah said, her eyes widening. "At least it's a woman teacher and not a man. Could you imagine if Snape was teaching this?"

"Oh bloody hell, speak for yourself. I don't want to stand naked in front of McGonagall. What a nightmare. Literally. I think I've literally had that nightmare."

"Really, McGonagall's nothing. This is going to be on the N.E.W.T. exam. We might have to do this in front of some old fuddy-duddy wizard," she said. They both stared wide-eyed at one another.

"Right, let's strip. The only thing worse than having to Transfigure into a woman is if I were to like… I dunno, give myself three tits or something."

Hannah laughed loudly at this as they both pulled their shirts off.

* * *

"I think we should do legs and things now," Hermione said.

"And things?" Harry said, biting his lip, trying not to laugh. He looked away when he realized she was taking her jeans off.

"Yes, I'll have to give myself your member," Hermione clarified. "I mean…"

"Oh Merlin," Harry said, pulling his trousers off and kicking them aside.

"Sorry, you know what I meant," Hermione said, her cheeks coloring.

"Yeah, I shouldn't have asked. I'm sorry." He kept glancing at her knickers and then looking away.

"Look, for the sake of study…" she said, glancing down at his boxers, "I mean, you know everyone else is doing this too…"

"You've seen Ron's, right? Can't you just imagine it?"

"Don't be so shy. We're friends. You've seen me in my underthings before. Naked isn't a lot different. It's okay," she said.

"Fine. If you're fine with it, then I suppose I am too," Harry said quietly. He pulled his boxers off while she pulled off her knickers so she only stood there in her bra. "Er, why are you keeping your bra on?"

"We already did that part," Hermione said, raising her eyebrow.

"Right, sorry." He looked down at her without her knickers… it made such an enormous difference… He certainly could no longer pretend she was wearing a bathing suit. It was almost painful to pull his gaze away.

When he looked up at her face again, he saw that she was staring at what had previously been covered by his boxers.

"You're er…" she said, glancing up at his face and then pointedly away.

"What?" Harry said, glancing down. And then he realized. "Oh, well. How often does a man need to be naked and not have that happen? It's cold in here, alright?"

"Right," she said, shaking her head. "Of course. Yes."

* * *

Ginny reached forward and held onto Draco's arm. "Alright, I don't think I can do much more today."

It took every ounce of self-control not to take her into his arms and kiss her…

"Are you alright?" he asked between his teeth.

"Yes, I'm sorry," she said, shivering slightly. "I'm sorry I'm touching you."

"Don't be sorry," he said. He conjured a blanket and wrapped it around her even though her clothes were less than a foot away.

"Thank you," she whispered. She turned her back to him. "Will you hold me? Maybe it'd be not so bad like this?"

"Yeah, alright," he said. And looking up at the dungeon ceiling, he couldn't help but press his throbbing erection against her bottom as he stepped forward and hugged her.

She rested her head back against his chest. Then, she took slow, deep breaths and stopped shivering.

Slowly, he bent and kissed the back of her hair.

"Mm. Thank you, Draco," she said. And she stepped out of his embrace. He turned and immediately started dressing himself.

"You're welcome," he muttered. Once he'd finished dressing, he turned and saw that she was also dressed, to his relief as well as his disappointment.

Stepping forward, she gave him a peck on the cheek. "Will you do the charms on me tonight? You're better at them."

"Sure. I'll walk you back to Gryffindor Tower first though. It'll be better if you're closer to your bed before I do them."

"Alright," she said, nodding. Then, she took his hand in hers. With his free hand, Draco aimed his wand at the door and unlocked it.


	58. Valentine's Day

"You asked the fifth year Gryffindor prefects to patrol the seventh floor halls right?" Hermione asked Ron. She tried the door to a classroom and it was locked, as she was expecting. They continued walking down the hall.

"Yes, of course. And I told the Slytherin sixth year prefects that they better actually patrol the dungeons including the Potions classrooms, or I'll be taking house points away," Ron said.

"Good. And the Great Hall?"

"It's all covered, don't worry. Everyone knows by now where their new patrols are for this half of the school year."

"Yes well… we need to make sure they're actually doing their patrols because there were stores missing from the Potions' cupboard, and Peeves… Ron, what are you doing?" Hermione stopped talking as she watched Ron pace back and forth three times. The door to the Room of Requirement appeared before them. Hermione glanced over her shoulder and down the halls to either side.

"Come on," Ron said, smiling and leading her in by her hand.

* * *

Harry watched Ron and Hermione's dots on the Marauder's Map disappear. He had been watching Draco and Ginny's dots as they skirted around the lake together when he'd accidentally caught sight of Hermione's name.

Harry realized then that he hated himself. He hated what he'd allowed himself to become. He'd had two whole bottles of Mead from the kitchens just while sitting here at his desk, pretending to read essays that his third years had handed in today while actually just watching Ginny and Draco on the Map.

"Mischief Managed," he muttered, tapping the Map. Refilling the same bottle of Mead for the third time before the last drops were gone and then stood, deciding he needed a walk. And maybe some fresh air.

Over the past month, Ginny looked worse and worse. She walked in a hunched form as though she was ready to pass out at any moment. Her hands shook constantly and more than once, teachers had scolded her for falling asleep during classes.

He was surprised that she was playing Quidditch better than ever. They'd won both of their matches so far. Though they still had to play Hufflepuff, Gryffindor would have to lose by more than six-hundred and seventy-five points to give a fighting chance to Slytherin for the Quidditch Cup. He supposed all the extra practice with Draco must have been paying off… This thought made Harry deliciously bitter. The jealousy he felt for Draco had practically become a comfort to him in a way that Harry certainly didn't understand.

Harry was trudging up the Astronomy tower steps. He was nearly to the top before he was wondering what he even wanted to do up there.

Once he was to the top, he was surprised to find himself alone. He figured there'd be at least one couple snogging up here. It was Valentine's Day, after all.

* * *

"Ginny, forgive me, but maybe we should go back inside so you can sit down," Draco said quietly. He was practically holding her up as they walked around the lake over snow-covered grounds. It made him nervous. It had crossed his mind multiple times that he could just stun her and go and get a teacher, but no matter how he looked at it, this would be impossible to explain. Either he or Ginny or both of them would end up in Azkaban for this once they figured out what was wrong with her. No question.

"I'm fine. The exercise is good for me. I need to keep my strength up for the fourth match in a couple of weeks."

"We need to get this taken care of. I can't believe you've been like this since Halloween."

"I haven't been like this since Halloween," she snapped. They stopped walking under the tree on the far side of the lake. It was the tree where Harry and Ginny had spent hours together on warmer days than this one.

"You certainly used to be nicer."

"Well, going crazy will do that to a person. He hasn't taken over yet. I still have control."

"Barely. The other night…" He wasn't sure if he should tell her or not. He wasn't sure if it would affect the spirit inside her somehow.

"What is it? Spit it out, boy."

Draco flinched at her calling him 'boy'. He thought it sounded like Voldemort was speaking and not Ginny even though it was Ginny's voice. "Well, your eyes turned red for a second. It could have just been a trick of the light."

"Ah, I see…" she said. She shivered and then looking up at Hogwarts, her eyes widened.

"What's wrong?" Draco said.

But then Ginny screamed.

* * *

The Room of Requirement was a cozy bedroom. Jars of blue flames floated above Ron and Hermione's heads. A four-poster bed sat in the center of the room, hung with deep crimson damask hangings.

Ron and Hermione were naked under the sheets. He was on top of her, kissing her.

"You taste so sweet," Ron whispered.

Hermione laughed. "You gave me that candy, remember? The little hearts."

"Mm, right. You taste good."

She laughed again.

* * *

Though it was freezing cold outside on the Astronomy tower balcony, Harry didn't notice. He was warm from the wine in his belly. Slowly, he climbed up onto the ramparts. He wanted a better view of the grounds.

He stood on the ledge of the ramparts on the side that was closest to the lake. He could just make out two small figures on the snow-covered grounds. The sky was a deep blue color, fading to black. Harry could see Ginny and Draco only by the light coming from the castle windows.

He decided he'd sit down right on the ramparts and watch them from here. It'd be good for him to get some fresh air, anyway. But when he went to sit down, the ice on the stone ramparts made his feet slip out from under him. He smacked the back of his head hard on the stone, causing him to lose consciousness, before he fell from more than seven stories toward the hard ground below…

* * *

For a split second, Draco thought Ginny was screaming because she was in pain. But then she followed her line of sight and saw that someone was falling from the ramparts surrounding the Astronomy tower. From where he stood, Draco drew his wand.

" _Arresto Momentum!_ " Draco shouted. He had no idea if the spell would reach its target. "Ginny, wait here. I'm going to see if they're alright."

"Alright," she said. His arm felt cold where she'd been clinging to him. Squinting, trying to find the figure on the snowy grounds, Draco sprinted away from Ginny.

* * *

As Ron kissed her, Hermione could see the blue flames through her half-lidded eyes. And something stirred in the back of her mind. She shut her eyes tightly as he kissed her instead, not meaning to distract herself. But this distracted her more. Hermione hated the feeling of not quite remembering something.

He kissed her neck, and he moved down her chest… and Hermione's eyes fluttered open as he kissed her…

That's when she remembered everything. She remembered every kiss she'd shared with Harry. Kissing him surrounded by multiplied jars of blue flames. The heavy damask drapes looked so much like those that were all over Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place… She remembered drinking firewhiskey together and laying down on a dusty sofa… of coming-to on the bathroom floor, kissing Harry. All the Fates she'd been made to forget… She remembered Harry's glassy look as he Obliviated her…

"Oh," Hermione said, tears springing to her eyes.

"Wha… what is it? Did I hurt you?" Ron asked quickly, leaning up and kissing her cheeks where tears fell.

"No… I just…" she said, looking away from Ron. "I just was thinking…"

"It's okay… yeah, it crossed my mind too."

"What?"

"Yeah… how we were in here when you first told me about… you know…"

"Yeah," Hermione said. She felt so completely guilty. She wanted to tell Ron everything that she'd just remembered but she couldn't. She knew it'd break his heart. She didn't deserve the look of sympathy he was giving her.

"You're too good," she said. "You know that? I don't deserve you."

"Nah, it's the other way around," he said, but he was smiling. She pulled him as close to herself as she could and kissed him hard. He returned her kisses with equal fervor…

* * *

Alone on the far side of the lake, Ginny started to shiver. She couldn't stop. Her legs felt weak. She wanted to follow Draco but she couldn't get her feet to move.

"Please," Ginny said, her cold lips barely moving, "Please, don't."

She was just too weak to fight it anymore. Without Draco's warmth, she was lost…

Ginny suddenly stopped shivering. She rolled her head so her neck cracked.

"Yes," she said simply, though it was no longer her speaking. Voldemort had taken over Ginny's body completely. She was locked away in the depths of her own mind; she didn't even bother to plead with Voldemort any longer. There was no use.


	59. Dead or Alive, Bound and Gagged

"Oh hell," Draco muttered as he ran nearer and saw that it was Harry who was lying unmoving in the snow. His glasses had apparently fallen off during the fall. Blood was trickling out of both of Harry's ears.

" _Innervate!_ Potter, don't you bloody die! _Innervate!_ " he yelled, kneeling at Harry's side. "Help! Someone help!" He called it toward the closed double front doors of the front of the castle.

Ginny was walking toward them as though she were taking a stroll on a fine spring day.

"Ginny! I know you're weak, but please. Go for help, alright?" Draco shouted at her. She was still at least thirty meters away.

She stopped walking and simply tilted her head to the side like a confused dog.

" _Mobilicorpus!"_ Draco said, huffing a breath out as he wondered about Ginny. Harry was hoisted into the air and floated before Draco as he hurried into the castle. Ginny followed toward the front doors with slow, purposeful steps.

* * *

Afterward, as Hermione and Ron lay together—Ron with a sleepy, relaxed smile, Hermione with a guilt-ridden grimace, she had a sudden, odd jolt of panic. She didn't know where it came from or why she'd had it.

"Ron, something's wrong," she said, sitting up.

"You did the charm," he said sleepily.

"No, it's not that… something's wrong… I might be crazy but I just feel like we need to go patrol or something." She wondered if it was guilt about the summer making her feel this way but she didn't let herself ruminate over it. She was up and dressed by the time Ron sat up.

"Alright, calm down," he said, his eyebrows furrowing as he looked at her. "Is this a joke or something?"

"No, I'm serious. I have a bad feeling like something's wrong. Please, Ron."

He stood and dressed himself. "Fine, but if you can't find anything wrong in the next hour, I'm bringing you back here even if I have to carry you like a firefighter."

"I'd gladly let you," Hermione said, grabbing his hand and leading him from the room. He pulled his second trainer on, hopping on one foot as she pulled him along.

* * *

"What was tha'?!" Hagrid called to Ginny, hurrying up the hill toward her from his hut. "I heard someone calling for help?"

"That was just Malfoy," Ginny said calmly.

"Did he need help? Is everythin' alrigh'?" Hagrid asked, glancing toward the front doors, one of which was still cracked open.

"I suppose everything is just fine. Now," Ginny said, smiling. "Go back to your hovel, Giant."

"Wha—Ginny, oh, ha, ha, you must have been jokin'. Alrigh' then, you best be gettin' back inside… Girl. Ha," Hagrid said, furrowing his great, fuzzy eyebrows at her before turning and walking back to his hut.

Ginny walked slowly back in through the front double doors, not bothering to close them. It was no matter, because they closed themselves soon after she was inside.

Luna nearly ran into her on the marble stairs.

"Oh! Ginny—" Luna said. She was obviously flustered even though her voice still sounded calm. She grabbed Ginny's shoulders in order to steady herself. "I'm on my prefect patrol—I, I just saw Draco coming by with Harry! Professor McGonagall helped them get to the hospital wing… Oh, sorry, you must want to go see if he's alright!"

Ginny was panicking inside her own head, and wanted desperately to take control of her own body again. _Please go and see if he's alive… Please… I need to know if he's going to be alright… SHUT UP GIRL OF COURSE I SHALL ASSURE POTTER IS DEAD STOP NEEDLING ME OR I SHALL BE SURE TO BE CUT OF YOU…_

"Yes, I am on my way there now."

"Oh, dear, you must be in shock, oh Ginny, I'll come with you, shall I?"

"No, girl. Leave me."

"Oh," Luna said, her huge eyes growing wider in confusion. "Alright. Good luck, then."

* * *

"So do you think you know what's wrong?" Ron asked as they hurried down the hall toward the Defense classrooms.

"No idea."

"But you think there's something wrong with Harry?"

"Yes," she said in a choked voice, "Yes, Ron. It's Harry. Don't you feel it too?"

"No," he said. "You're scaring me, Hermione."

"I'm scaring myself, too." They reached the door to the classroom which led to Harry's bedroom. She pounded on it three times. "Once I see him, I'll calm down."

"Harry! Are you in there?" Ron called. Hermione waited one more second and then silently unlocked the door.

* * *

"Poppy!" Professor McGonagall shouted as Draco held his wand aloft, leading Harry in and magically lowering him onto the bed.

Seconds later, Madam Pomfrey came bustling out from her room.

"Oh, why is it always Potter?" she muttered, "Oh, Merlin." She poked her wand into each of Harry's ears and the blood stopped trickling out. She waved her wand and his back was no longer wet from the snow, the dried blood was gone, the blue bruises were gone which had been circling both of his whole eye sockets, as well as over his cheekbones. Also, though they couldn't see it happening, Harry's five broken ribs healed themselves, as well as his three cracked vertebrae and fractured skull.

Then, she did some twirling motions with her wand and a turban wrapped itself on Harry's head.

"Is he going to live?" Professor McGonagall asked as Madam Pomfrey lowered her wand.

"Yes. What happened?" she said, gazing at Draco.

"I was out on the grounds with… er, well with Miss Weasley, Madam, and she saw someone standing on the ramparts of the Astronomy Tower… I looked up and he was already falling. I tried _Arresto Momentum_ but I think I may have been too far away."

"Yes, you certainly missed him, unfortunately. But that was good thinking," Madam Pomfrey said and then waited for Draco to continue.

"Well, I ran over to him. Ginny's been sick so I told her to stay where she was."

"Sick? She hasn't been to see me," said the nurse, distracted.

"Oh, just a mild sickness," Draco said, staring down at Harry, "Nothing to worry about."

"So once you ran over to him, you brought him inside," Professor McGonagall said.

"Yes, Headmistress. I saw that he was unconscious so I levitated him and brought him inside."

Just then, Ginny walked slowly in through the door, which was still open. The three of them watched as she walked up to the side of the bed and stood near Harry's head.

"Is he alive?" she asked quietly.

"Yes, Ginevra, he's alive," said Professor McGonagall, tapping Ginny's shoulder a few times.

"Oh. He looked like he was dead," Ginny said evenly.

"Well, the vessels surrounding his brain were hemorrhaging. If Mr. Malfoy here hadn't acted so quickly, well, who knows…" Madam Pomfrey said, shaking her head.

"I'm just relieved I was able to help him," Draco said, watching Ginny. She was reaching into the pocket of her robes, but Draco knew he had her wand still… "Come on, Ginny. Let's let Potter heal. You can visit him in the morning perhaps."

"Yes, it's already past visiting hours," Madam Pomfrey said, seeming to just now remember this. "Off you go…"

"Yes, but I believe I should be allowed to stay," Ginny said through her teeth. "Also, I seem to have lost my wand. Mr. Malfoy, do you have my wand in your possession?"

Ginny's eyes flashed red at him. They were more vibrantly red than her hair, but only for a moment. He wasn't sure if McGonagall or Madam Pomfrey had noticed but didn't want to wait around to find out. Bravely, he stepped forward and wrapped an arm around her waist.

She stiffened at his touch but he forced her to walk forward with him. "Goodnight, Headmistress. Goodnight, Nurse," Draco said over his shoulder to the two women, who were watching Ginny and him closely. "If you don't leave now, you're an idiot," he whispered into Ginny's ear. "The nurse and the headmistress are watching you, Spirit. Come back once they're gone, or they might force you from this body."

Ginny's face slowly turned and looked at him. Draco had to force himself not to flinch away.

"Yes, you're right… I see…" she said and then together, they walked from the room.

Together, as they began walking down the hall, suddenly Draco grabbed Ginny's arm hard so she couldn't be able to pull away.

"Do not touch me, Malfoy," she growled. But Draco wouldn't let go.

"Ginny, I know you're in there. You can come back." He pulled her along with him as she tried to fight his hold from her.

Soon, once she proved too strong to drag with one hand, he picked her up in his arms, covering her mouth with his hand while supporting her neck with the same arm. As he did, she fought him and struggled against her down another corridor, trying random doors until he mercifully found a door that was unlocked.

Opening the door with some difficulty while still holding her—she was thrashing and growling, and even bit his hand, drawing blood—he didn't make a sound. He kicked the door shut and then dropped Ginny to the floor. As he thought it would, this caught the spirit off guard.

Slipping his wand from his pocket, he said, in rapid succession, " _Immobulus! Incarcerous!"_

Ginny stopped moving and then was bound in ropes and gagged.


	60. Whispers at Four AM

Hermione and Ron missed seeing Draco carrying a fighting Ginny by mere seconds. Having not found Harry, they were rushing toward the hospital wing.

"Is he here?" Ron demanded as they ran in through the doors.

"Oh, did you run into Malfoy and your sister?" said Professor McGonagall.

"No," Hermione said sharply.

At the same time, Ron said, "My God, Hermione, you were right!"

Hermione's hand flew to cover her gaping mouth as she saw Harry at the same time.

"He's going to be alright," said Madam Pomfrey consolingly.

Hermione started crying silently, still covering her mouth with her hand. Ron reached an arm out and held her against his chest while he asked, "What happened?"

Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey took turns explaining.

"So Malfoy saved him," Ron repeated in summary.

"Yes," said Professor McGonagall, raising her eyebrows in understanding.

"Well, at least we nearly died to save Malfoy for a reason now."

"May we stay with him in case he wakes up?" Hermione asked, wiping the tears from under her eyes.

"Really, he's faced injuries that were just as bad because of Quidditch," Madam Pomfrey shrugged. "I suppose one of you could stay at a time. He doesn't need a vigil held."

"Do you know when he might wake up?" Ron asked.

"Probably not until morning…"

"I'll stay tonight," Hermione said, "You can come back in the morning and stay with him, alright?"

"Well, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to try to get some rest so I will be ready to take care of my patient in the morning."

"Goodnight, Poppy," said Professor McGonagall. "I'll be off too, goodnight, Miss Granger, Mr. Weasley… Potter…"

"They both left… maybe I can stay?" Ron suggested quietly.

"Then we'll both be tired in the morning when he actually wakes up. No, you go… get rested, alright?"

"Yeah, I feel bad making you stay up all night though. You don't have to. Harry wouldn't want you to."

"What if he wakes up and no one's here though?"

"Madam Pomfrey will be here."

"No, one of us should be here." She waved her wand, conjuring some books, parchment, ink and quills. "I'll just get some homework done. Maybe I'll do those three feet for Transfiguration. Then I won't feel guilty taking a nap in the morning and missing class."

"Well, your Transfiguration partner is here, so… I'm sure Professor McGonagall will understand…"

"Yes, well, anyway," Hermione kissed Ron quickly on the lips, "Happy Valentine's Day."

"You too," Ron said, kissing her again. "I love you." He let go of her and stepped back a step.

"I love you, too."

* * *

"Ginny, please…" Draco said, gritting his teeth. He was holding her against him. Because of the _Immobulus_ charm, she was like dead weight, though he hardly noticed. He was terrified. "Please come back to me. You need to stay with me, alright? Don't do this. You're stronger than this."

She was staring at him. He felt tears leak from the corners of his eyes but he forced himself to stay calm.

"I'm going to take the ropes off, and the gag… but I'm not taking the charm off…" he said. Slowly, he unbound her with his hands instead of magic. She felt cold under his touch. She'd always felt warm before… even when they were out walking around the lake a bit ago, she'd felt warm…

"Come back," he said quietly, looking into her eyes. He pulled her into his lap, resting her head against his chest and scooting backward with her a bit, he leaned back against the wall behind him.

Slowly, he rubbed her back in long strokes. He held her close, his cheek against her forehead.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly.

And after an hour or so of rubbing her back and holding her, he fell asleep.

* * *

Sometime around four or four thirty in the morning, long after she'd finished her essay for Transfiguration, Hermione had found a hand mirror and had transfigured her hair and each of her facial features slowly, one at a time. Then she moved onto her chest, arms, hands, legs and feet.

And lastly, her groin. She'd never transfigured this part of herself when practicing transfiguring into Harry. It just didn't seem right. She hated transfiguring into Harry (even though he was her actual assignment) because she felt like it shouldn't be as easy as it was to do it—she was far too familiar with Harry's body… as familiar as she was with Ron's…

She was pleased. She was Ron exactly.

Just as she was inspecting what it felt like to have such a bulge between her legs—for magical research purposes, of course—Harry stirred.

He woke and gazed up at the ceiling for a moment. The last thing he remembered was slipping and cracking his head… He looked to his right and left. Of course, he was in the hospital wing. Then, glancing down at the foot of the bed, he saw a familiar face.

"Ron," Harry whispered. Hermione visibly jumped and let go of the waistband of her now way-too-small trousers.

"Harry!" she whispered, "You're awake!" Quietly, she scooted up to Harry's side. Sitting on his bed near his hip, she took his hand in both of hers.

"Ron?" Harry said, scrunching his eyebrows and glancing down at his hand, intertwined with apparently Ron's hands. "Why are you wearing Hermione's shirt?"

"Oh sorry, I was just—" Hermione started.

But Harry interrupted. "Ack! These bandages are too tight… am I bleeding or anything?" Gingerly, he reached up and pulled the turban off his head.

Hermione stood and inspected his hair, parting it here and there. "No it doesn't look like there's anything wrong at all. I don't see any blood or cuts, anyway."

"Good," Harry said, tossing the turban onto the bedside stand and laying back down against his pillows.

"Do you remember falling?"

"I remember hitting my head—"

"Yes, you fell off the ramparts. Malfoy saved you." She quickly explained everything that happened.

"Great," Harry said flatly.

"Were you trying to kill yourself?" Hermione asked in a wavering voice.

"No," Harry said immediately. "I might be an alcoholic, but I'm not suicidal."

"So you admit it," she muttered. "They say that's the first step."

"Yeah, I know."

It was silent for a moment as they both gazed at each other.

"I wanted to tell you… I remembered everything," Hermione said finally.

"Remember everything about what?" Harry asked. "Are you going to explain why you're wearing Hermione's shirt yet?"

"Oh, right!" Hermione said, "I was just practicing…" Then she reached down to the end of the bed and grabbed her wand. Quickly, she put herself back to normal.

"Well," said Harry, clearly surprised, "that makes me feel a little better about the hand holding. I was worried that maybe Ron had taken Halloween to heart…"

"Right, as I was saying," Hermione said, trying to ignore him, "I remember everything."

"You always remember everything," Harry said automatically, but his heart was suddenly hammering inside his chest.

"I mean, I remember everything about this past summer, Harry. I wanted to tell you while we're alone."

It was quiet again. He wanted her to keep talking. He didn't want to try to guess what she was thinking. Also, it hurt his head to speak.

"I don't blame you, Harry. Not for any of it." Her eyes glistened as though she was getting ready to cry.

"You don't blame me? For trying to steal you from Ron? Did you really remember everything? Because then you might realize what a horrible person I really am. Really, Hermione, I'll Obliviate you again, and I'll do it right this time so you don't ever remember any of it. Promise."

"Oh Harry, you're not a horrible person. Far from it," she said, shaking her head. She held his hand tightly. "I'm just as much at fault for any wrong-doing, if not more so. I'd asked Ron to marry me and then went home and snogged you. You didn't do that. You weren't with Ginny. You never… cheated. Not like I did."

"You were just scared and I was there."

"We were there for each other, though, weren't we? We needed each other."

"Yeah," Harry said.

"I'm in love with Ron," Hermione said, fighting to keep her voice low, "But Harry, I will never, ever stop loving you. You are… I don't know, like a brother I've never had, combined with a son that I'm too young to have. You're more than simply a best friend."

"Thanks, Hermione," Harry said. He pulled her hand to his lips and kissed it. "I won't ever stop loving you, either. And you're right, I needed you. You've always sort of been my life raft. I just didn't know _how_ I needed you, I think."

"Right. We were confused. I think we can allow ourselves to move past it. Especially you."

Harry felt as though the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders then… and then it crashed back down onto him once more… "We did the real harm to Ron though," Harry whispered.

Hermione looked down at their intertwined hands. "Yes. And we will both carry that to our graves, Harry. Ron deserves better than the pain we would cause him with the truth. I need you to forgive me for ever asking to forget all of it though, Harry. I was weak and scared and regretted hurting Ron. But I don't regret being there for you when you needed me, even if it was wrong."

"Of course I forgive you," Harry said. He was fighting to keep his eyes open.

She watched him for a moment and then reached up and pushed his hair away from his forehead. Harry let his eyes close with her touch. Slowly, she ran her hand over his hair a few times.

"You're tired. Go ahead back to sleep… I'm here if you need me."

"Thanks, 'Mione."

He drifted.


	61. Waking Up in Odd Places

Hermione continued stroking Harry's hair for a while as he fell back asleep. It was comforting to touch him like this. So comforting, in fact, that she had fallen asleep resting her head against her arm, which laid on Harry's pillow. Her hand was still in his hair when she was gently shook awake.

"'Mione," said Ron.

"Mm, oh, my back. What an odd position to have fallen asleep in," she said, sitting up. Her back cracked loudly. "That's better." She felt her cheeks color when she looked up at Ron, who had a confused expression on his face.

"Why was your hand in his hair?" Ron asked, scrunching his eyebrows.

"He woke up in the middle of the night and his head hurt. I was trying to comfort him…" Hermione stood up as she said this and then kissed Ron's cheek.

"Oh, okay. Was he alright when he woke up?"

"Yeah, he said the bandages were too tight. We talked a bit but then he started falling back to sleep."

"Are you still going to nap instead of go to class?"

"Yeah, maybe. I slept probably for three hours. That might be enough to get me through the morning, though really there probably isn't much point in going to Transfiguration without Harry there…" Hermione picked up her stack of books and parchment and things…

* * *

"And what do you two think you're doing in here?" Filch rasped loudly. Draco woke with a start. Ginny was staring at Filch. It was unclear whether Ginny had been able to close her eyes over night with the _immobulus_ spell on her…

"Fell asleep," Draco said, pulling his wand from his pocket.

"You fell asleep? Together? In a classroom? This will be detention until the end of the school year! Oh, ho! You just wait…"

" _Confundus_ ," Draco said sleepily. Filch stood stupidly for a moment and then ambled back out of the room, leaving the door open behind him. Draco smirked, watching him leave.

"Listen," Draco said, gently sliding Ginny off of his lap. He leaned her against the wall, where she rested as though she were dead, but she was staring at him. He repressed a shiver. "I don't know if you're still Voldemort, or if Ginny is back in her own mind again… but I have to find out one way or another so… _Finite Incantatem. Incarcerous_."

Ropes once again flew from his wand and wrapped themselves tightly around Ginny's unmoving form. A gag materialized around her face and in her mouth once more.

He stepped forward and pulled the gag from Ginny's mouth and then quickly stepped back again.

"Please don't stop holding onto me Draco. He can't control me completely as long as I'm being touched in a… warm… sort of way. Because you held me all night, and you were rubbing my back like that, he couldn't stand feeling you…"

This was all he needed to hear. He unbound and banished the ropes and then helped Ginny to her feet. Immediately, she wrapped her arms around him, holding him tighter.

He had never liked to be touched much. Anymore though, he found himself smelling like flowers—like Ginny. He needed to keep Ginny safe and alive. Potter clearly was never going to give up on her, just like he never gave up on anything else…

"I'm so sorry," she said quietly. "I won't ever be able to repay you for this."

"It's alright." He watched as her eyes flashed red and then back to her normal brown again. He gritted his teeth to hide the surprise he felt. Seeing the red in her eyes would never become old hat to him. Her eyes were too kind otherwise.

"Come on, you need to eat. And I want to reread the books we pilfered from my parents' library before we have Transfiguration this morning. There has to be something we missed."

Ginny slipped both arms around his waist as he led her with his arm around her shoulders.

Together, as they walked down the hall toward the stairs, Ginny said, "You know… don't take this the wrong way…"

"Hm?"

"But I'm surprised he wouldn't prefer your body to mine. You're a man, after all, and you're good looking and smart and you are a pureblood who lives in a huge, beautiful manor house when you're not here."

"Er, thanks." He pushed away how good this made him feel to hear her say this. She was Harry's, even if she didn't want Harry anymore…

"Well, you knew all that."

"I've wondered the same thing at first—why he wouldn't want to embody a man," Draco said. "I don't think he really was able to choose who he went to. I think it's possible that you might have been the only one strong enough to take him in… from what the books implied."

"You're strong though."

"No," Draco said, shaking his head, "You have no idea… don't feel bad," he drawled, "But this is the most I've ever done for anyone. I'd never questioned my father or any of his beliefs until this year. I've realized, belatedly, that I'm quite weak."

"No," Ginny said, shaking her head, "You're anything but weak. I'd be dead if it weren't for you. Harry would be too."

"Nah, you're just saying that because you want me for my warm body," Draco muttered. Ginny laughed at this.

"Ginny, why must you always be touching Malfoy? It's gross." Ron was coming up the stairs as they were about to go down them.

"Oh, hello dear brother," Ginny said, letting the smile fall from her face. "Going to visit Harry?"

"Yes, is that where you're coming from?"

"No," Draco said shortly, leading Ginny down the steps.

"Alright then," Ron called after him, "You're only dating my sister. You could be a little nicer."

"Sorry," Draco called back over his shoulder as he and Ginny continued down, "No, _Ronald_ , we didn't go see Potter. And I apologize for disgusting you!"

"Alright, _Draco_ , You're forgiven I suppose!" Ron called after him. He huffed out, gritting his teeth as he stared at the backs of Draco and Ginny's heads before turning and heading to the hospital wing.

* * *

A few minutes after Hermione left, Harry woke up.

"Changing of the guard?" Harry asked Ron as Madam Pomfrey came bustling out of her rooms.

"Yeah, Hermione just left—"

But then Madam Pomfrey was at the end of Harry's bed, staring daggers at Harry. Ron looked around and grimaced at the face she was giving.

"Why is your turban no longer on your head, Mr. Potter?"

"It was too tight. It woke me up, Madam Pomfrey."

She twirled her wand and a new turban appeared on Harry's head causing him to wince.

"Keep that on. It's charmed to keep your head from springing any new hemorrhages."

"Yes, Madam Pomfrey."

"And while I've got you awake…" she said, stepping forward to the side of Harry's bed, opposite Ron, who crossed his arms over his chest. "You and I need to have a little chat. Out please, Mr. Weasley. Go to class."

"But I just got here…"

"And you're at this school to learn, not to sit at Potter's bedside. Go."

"Alright, bye Harry," Ron said, grimacing in a glad-I'm-not-you sort of way. Once Ron left, Madam Pomfrey continued.

"The amount of alcohol in your system yesterday was astounding. How much had you had?"

"How did you—"

"Answer my question, please, Mr. Potter."

"Two bottles of Mead."

"And what else?"

"Well, I usually have a shot of firewhiskey when I wake up. I also had two butterbeers… no three…"

" _Every morning_?" Her eyes were wide.

"Well…"

"You do it to deal with your PMTD, correct? It keeps you from having medical accidents without actually dealing with your problems?"

"You're right."

"And you slipped from the Astronomy tower. You didn't jump."

"I slipped."

"Well, I doubt you made this connection yet, but when you drink this much, it only puts the accidents off, it doesn't keep them away permanently. The magic builds up and then you have a catastrophic accident like you had. You're lucky to be alive."

"Oh."

"Yes, well, Mr. Potter, the Headmistress told me that she warned you to lay off the booze during your _Midterm Examination_. What, exactly, were you thinking—showing up to an important exam drunk?"

"I didn't do it on purpose really—"

"Well, it stops now. You finally have a chance at leading a happy life, Mr. Potter. I will not allow you to kill yourself."

"Thank you. I can't wait to lead this happy life you've mentioned."

"No cheek, Potter," she said sternly, hoisting her hands to her hips. "You will be meeting with a healer from Saint Mungo's every evening for one hour at precisely eight p.m. He will meet you in your Defense Classroom so we may hinder any skiving. Twenty-five galleons will be docked from your pay every week to cover the costs."

"I don't need the money anyway. Give Saint Mungo's twice as much if you want," Harry said.

She raised her eyebrows and pressed her lips together, studying him. "Fine," she said, tilting her head, "I'll tell Minerva."

"Good," Harry said.


	62. Gawain Robards

A month later, Harry had met with the healer every day. He hadn't drank any alcohol since Valentine's Day. He actually felt alright, even if he was drinking a few drops of Elixir to Induce Euphoria every day, per the healer's instructions.

March was trying to be warm but not quite managing it. Despite this, the Gryffindor-Hufflepuff game was in two days.

Ginny was ever the fan of PDA it seemed. Harry hardly caught sight of her without her arms literally hugging Draco Malfoy. It was sickening to see every time he accidentally looked in her direction.

 _You're still not over her?_ Ron wrote on a corner of a spare bit of parchment. They were sitting in Potions class and were supposed to be watching Professor Slughorn make Veritaserum.

 _She's looked sick since xmas._ Harry wrote back.

 _Maybe a bit peaky._ (Ron)

 _I wish I could talk to her without Malfoy there._ (Harry)

 _Maybe you should try dating someone else? Romilda Vane's still single I hear._ (Ron)

 _No thanks._ (Harry)

 _I won't help you with the essay unless you pay attention, Ron!_ (Hermione)

 _Sorry_ _L_ _(Ron)_

After Potions, during lunch, Hermione sat reading a book and sipping tea while the two boys discussed the upcoming match against Hufflepuff.

"Ginny's been looking amazing at practices," Ron said enthusiastically, taking a bite of sausage. "She looks like a professional. She's maybe even better than you now, Harry."

"Yeah, she must be taking Pepper Up Potion or something though. I'm not sure how's she's managing it."

"I don't think there's anything physically wrong with her…"

"Then why's she always leaning on Malfoy like that?" Harry asked sharply.

"I'd rather not think about it," Ron said, making a disgusted face.

"Oh!" Hermione said, setting her tea down so quickly that she splashed it onto the table.

"What?" Ron asked quickly.

"Hush—"

"Sorry," Ron whispered, "What?"

"No," she said, smirking, "This blasted book that I got a while ago. Professor Trelawney actually wrote it."

"Wait a tick, you're reading a book that Trelawney wrote but you—"

"Yes," she said, cutting Ron off, "And this actually has a really good explanation for why Harry had a different reaction to Hush than most other people do."

"Oh yeah?" Harry asked, obviously skeptical.

"Yeah, listen. She says, 'With this specific herb,'—Hush, she means—'there will be very few witches and wizards who will experience a plane of deeper spirituality than a feeling of peace or a feeling of being at-one with nature. These few will have experienced the peril of near-death experiences or likewise have a deeper understanding of what it means to be in the throws of a deathly passion, such as possession by a raised spirit.'"

"So yeah, Ginny and I both experienced something like that, I suppose. We weren't really possessed, but…"

"Right," Hermione said happily, "And then she says, um… where is it… 'The plane of deeper spirituality will often call the witch or wizard toward the nearest place where strong magic has routinely been practiced, sometimes causing the magical person to travel for hours while in a trance. Once surrounded by the residue of magic, the herb will strengthen within the magical person, causing extremely vivid visualizations of magical, usually ancient, sacrificial practices wherein the archetype that most closely resembles the individual witch or wizard will then be exhibited to the magical person in some form or another."

"Wow," said Ron, "So why did Harry and Ginny have visions together? Does it say?"

"No," said Hermione, "but I'd imagine that it's just because they've both been near death because of Voldemort getting in their heads in different ways and they both smoked it together so, it'd make sense that they'd… well… it doesn't explain why they saw the same things. But don't you think this is just so interesting?" Hermione said.

"Don't say that too loud, or Trelawney might hear you," Ron said, smirking.

"Oh yes, it's so interesting," Harry said dryly, looking up. A tawny owl flew down and dropped a letter onto his cleaned plate. Hermione continued reading and Ron continued eating while he read it.

"It's a note from Shacklebolt. There's a case he wants me to help with."

"Like an Auror case?" Ron said, his eyes widening slightly.

"Yeah," Harry said, smiling.

"Wow," said Hermione. Harry handed her the letter and she read it. "Wow," she said again.

"Yeah, that's pretty exciting," Ron said.

"I'm going to meet him now. Do you two think you could cover my office hours for me? No one ever comes, but I still feel like someone should be there."

"Sure," said Hermione.

"Great. Thanks," Harry said, getting up.

After quickly telling Professor McGonagall where he was going, and her quick nod of approval, he headed down to the front gate of Hogwarts, Apparated to the telephone booth, dialed 62442, headed down to the main Atrium and to the lifts, where he happened to see Kingsley Shacklebolt coming off of at that very moment.

"Harry! You got my owl! Wow, that couldn't have been more than ten minutes ago. I hope you're not skiving off your classes." He laughed slowly, his deep voice booming.

"No, don't have any classes for the rest of the day."

"Wonderful, well, come with me," Kingsley got back onto the same lift and Harry followed him. Together they went up to the Auror Department. Walking between rows of desks, they went back to a large office where a man sat a desk with piles of papers here and there.

"So you know Gawain Robards, our head of the Department of course."

"Yes, sir," Harry said, shaking Robards's hand.

"Did you brief him yet?"

"No, I thought I'd leave that to you," said Kingsley, folding his hands in front of him.

"Right, well, this past October thirty-first, we had a D-sensor go off."

"Sensor for dark magic," Kingsley explained. Harry nodded.

"It was the one for Hogwarts," Robards continued gravely. "Now, I had one of my men scout the school and the grounds but came up with nothing. At first we thought the Halloween occurrence was a singular event but whatever dark magic was performed, it is causing residual sort of sensor alarms every few weeks. Most recently, there was a strong sensor alarm on Valentine's Day. The only other sensor to go off recently was one in Devon, the one near Exeter, for a few seconds on Christmas Day. However, we don't believe that was related."

"We don't know what was done or who performed the magic," said Kingsley, "or really anything else. Any leads you could get us would be greatly appreciated, even if they're based on speculation, gut instincts or hear-say."

It was quiet while Robards and Kingsley waited for Harry to speak.

"Well, I don't know if anything dark happened the night of Halloween, or Valentine's Day," Harry said. His drunken night with Hermione and Ron sprang to his mind but he mentally swatted away with a mental beater's bat. "Do you know what the other days were?"

"They seem totally random," Robards said. "I have them written down. Here we are." He handed Harry a slip of paper with fifteen dates on it, all since Halloween. They did indeed seem to be random days.

"I'll definitely keep my ear out," said Harry. "I'll report back anything I find out as soon as I can."

"Yes, that'd be splendid," Robards said, nodding.

"Great," Kingsley said, clapping Harry's shoulder. "I knew we'd get you back with us sooner or later. I know, I know, you'll finish your studies, but in a few short months…"

"Yes, Mr. Potter, it'll be an honor to have you on our team if you're still interested," Robards said seriously.

"Thank you," Harry said. "It's been my goal to become an Auror for years."

"Great, then let's shake hands on it," Robards said, and they shook hands.

As Harry walked out of the office and waited for the lifts, Ginny drifted back into his mind. He felt such a strong urge to take her away from Malfoy that it was grating on him. The thought made him thirsty for a moment.

It struck Harry again that Malfoy had to be up to something. He hated the Weasleys, after all. Why was he dating Ginny? Was it just to make Harry mad? It oddly didn't seem to be the case.

Harry stepped onto the lifts and held onto the knob above his head, deep in thought. He was thankfully alone.

Maybe the dark magic was that Malfoy had Ginny under the Imperius Curse.

But if that were the case, Harry thought, then why would she have caused Gryffindor to beat Slytherin?

Unless Malfoy caused that to happen as a cover for the Imperius curse….

But if she were under the Imperius Curse, wouldn't the Sensor just go off constantly?

And Harry was surprised to realize that he'd immediately connected Malfoy and Ginny to this questionable dark magic that had happened months ago. Was this a hunch? Or was he simply obsessed with Ginny to the point that it was very unhealthy?

He'd have to talk to Orion, his Healer, about it tonight. Maybe he'd have some insight… Was he allowed to tell his Healer about this mission though? Harry doubted it. It obviously was a secret. No, this he'd maybe not mention to Orion… or at least, he'd omit any damning details, just as he almost always had to do during therapy sessions. At least it was better than saying nothing at all.


	63. Plans and Proposal

"So you enjoyed the match?" Orion asked. It was Saturday evening. Orion's shockingly blue and purple hair seemed to glow in the candlelit classroom.

"Of course," said Harry. They sat next to each other at one of the desks in the Defense Classroom attached to Harry's private quarters. "I went with Hermione, Neville and Luna. Ron did a great job as Keeper. He really didn't seem nervous at all."

"And Ginny?"

"Yeah, Ginny was great. She's the reason we won, for sure. Though Ron did his part too. They probably will get the Cup, even if Slytherin wins."

"You seem happy when you talk about Quidditch."

"I love Quidditch. I was the Seeker from first year until sixth year."

"Right."

"There's a party in the Gryffindor Common Room right now."

"Would you like to go to it?"

"Yeah, but there will be alcohol there."

"I think you're ready to be around alcohol again, Harry. You've done very well this past month. Trust yourself. You won't drink if you choose not to drink."

"Yeah." Harry looked down at a big stack of papers that Orion had brought with him but hadn't said anything about yet. It was tied with thin brown string.

"Alright, I'll bite. What's that?" Harry asked, nodding to the tied stack of papers.

"It's your chart from your elementary school psychiatrist, who by the way, was placed at your school by Dumbledore. She was really a healer at St. Mungo's until Dumbledore had her come and watch you."

"I'm not surprised," Harry said.

"How do you feel about the idea that Albus Dumbledore was aware of the abuse and neglect that you underwent as a child and he didn't do anything to stop it?" Orion asked, playing with the bow on the stack of papers.

"I needed the magical protection of my mother's love," Harry said, shrugging.

"But perhaps he could have given the Dursleys potions or charmed them into being kind," Orion suggested.

"He had more important things to do, I'm sure," Harry said immediately.

"More important than to ensure your safety and welfare?" Orion asked slowly.

"I don't see what you're getting at," Harry said coldly.

Orion watched Harry intently for a moment with a benign sort of look on his face.

"If you want me to sit here… and bash one of the only people who… who showed that they gave a damn at all about me… I won't do it…" Harry was fighting very hard to maintain control but he knew he was losing.

"These pages mention over and over how you would dissociate as a baby. A different healer came over once a week when you first were brought to your Aunt and Uncle's. Do you remember him?"

"Not at all." Harry shrugged. "What does 'dissociate' mean?"

"It means… you'd sort of stare off into space. You never cried as a toddler. You wouldn't go to Petunia if you hurt yourself or were upset. You would just go dumb, as in you wouldn't seem to see or hear anything and you'd just stare."

"Oh." Harry wasn't sure what he was supposed to make of this. He didn't remember it, at least not any specific memory. But it didn't seem to be a lie, either.

"Luckily once you were in school, things became a little better. You cried for the first time in about four years in nursery."

"Yeah, I remember. There was a woman who seemed so lovely…" Harry said, smiling to himself.

"She was also a healer who specializes in childhood trauma cases. She was placed as your teacher by Dumbledore."

"See, Dumbledore did care," Harry said, his voice slightly higher than normal.

"Would you like to read this over? It explains a lot. You can have it if you want it."

Harry considered it for a moment. "Yeah, alright. Why not?"

Orion handed it to Harry, who was mildly surprised by its weight. "Well, that's our hour. See you tomorrow night…"

Harry didn't go to the party. It wasn't because he thought he'd drink. Unbeknownst to Orion, Harry still had untouched firewhiskey in his bedroom…

No, Harry didn't want to go because he'd see Ginny there. And yet, he desperately wanted to go because he'd see Ginny there…

Instead, he laid in bed, propped against a few pillows, and read about the trauma of his childhood, written in cold, matter-of-fact healer language.

* * *

"Alright you two, we're down to the wire now," said Mrs. Weasley. She'd met Ron and Hermione at the Three Broomsticks mid-afternoon on Sunday, the day after the match.

"We've just been busy with school, that's all," said Ron. Hermione took a sip of butterbeer.

And then Mrs. Weasley said in a low voice, leaning closer to them from across the table, "You two are still wanting to get married right? I have no bones about you postponing for a few years. None at all. I don't want you to feel like I'm pushing you into this because—"

"We still want to get married," Hermione said, "Right Ron?"

"Of course," he said, smiling at Hermione and taking her hand in his.

"Well," said Mrs. Weasley, glancing at their intertwined hands, "Alright then. So this summer after school is finished. End of June? Or in July? August?"

"Erm, on a Saturday… July would be nice, so we have a little time after school is over to prepare," Hermione said, checking Ron.

"Whatever you want," he said. "I really don't mind the details as long as it's Hermione that's at the end of the aisle."

"Aw, that's so sweet," Hermione said, giving him a kiss on his cheek.

Mrs. Weasley tried to hide her grin. "Right, so," Mrs. Weasley pulled Ron's hand (that wasn't holding onto Hermione's hand) toward herself, consulting his Wizard's Watch. "July seventh will be a Saturday. How's that?"

"Sounds great. July seventh," said Hermione. "It'll be easy to remember."

"Yeah," said Ron.

"So, would you be alright with us using the same tents as we did with Bill and Fleur?"

"Of course, they were lovely…"

"Same food? Music?"

Hermione nodded.

"I'd like to help cook," said Ron.

"You would?" said Mrs. Weasley, incredulously.

"Well, I know you will have to make food for like a hundred people. I could at least help with the prep work."

"He's gotten quite good at cooking, actually," Hermione said.

"Alright then, prep work, but I won't need you to do any of the actual cooking. I'll hire caterers to actually cook and serve the food. They just won't bring or prepare the food. Easy way to cut costs, you know."

"And the cake?" Ron asked. "I know you made the cake for Bill and Fleur, Mum. Will you do ours too?"

"Of course, it's no trouble… Now, who will be your bridal party?"

Hermione glanced at Ron. "I asked Ginny to be my maid-of-honor, and Ron asked Harry to be his best man. We hadn't asked anyone else. But I'd like to ask Neville and Luna."

"Yeah, maybe they'll keep Harry and Ginny from killing each other," Ron said.

"Yes, what was that all about? Ron, you really should try to get them to be on better terms," Mrs. Weasley said, taking a sip of her butterbeer.

"You know there's no controlling Ginny," Ron said, leaning forward a bit. "Harry would like to talk to her but she won't talk to him."

"I see," said Mrs. Weasley, "Well, maybe I'll slip her a calming draught on the day so she doesn't muck things up."

Hermione and Ron both laughed at this.

"Hermione, I'll need an invite list from you when you can manage it. We'll want to send the invitations out a good six or eight weeks before the wedding date. Charlie actually did the calligraphy for Bill's wedding invitations. He offered to do it for you as well."

"That'd be lovely," said Hermione.

"And… now, alright, I have some news," said Mrs. Weasley. She folded her hands in front of her on the table. "I've heard from George. He's, well, he's eloped with Angelina Johnson two weeks ago in a place called Bermuda. They plan to be home for your wedding. And well, Angelina has become quite religious recently, according to George's letter, and well, she'd like to officiate your wedding."

"I didn't know women could be Wizard Vicars," said Ron, while at the same time, Hermione said, "Wow, that's…"

"Yes, technically she's a Witch Vicar? Or is it Vicaress? I think?" said Mrs. Weasley, dusting invisible dust from the table.

"That'd be great. I'd love for her to officiate," said Hermione.

"Alright," said Mrs. Weasley, obviously surprised. Ron shrugged. "So, moving on… your dress, Hermione," said Mrs. Weasley, "We'll want to stop by Madam Malkin's shop sooner than later in case you need multiple fittings. And you'll need to choose dresses for Ginny and Luna."

"Oh, Mrs. Weasley, you don't have to come with me for that. I'll manage… you've got so much to plan and prepare already."

"Dear, I've known you since you were what? Twelve? I couldn't have chosen a better girl for Ron than you. I would love to come… unless of course you don't want me to! I just realized, maybe—I understand completely! It's fine. I'm not trying to take anyone's place by being there—"

Hermione's eyes were a little shinier than normal. "No, no," she said, sniffing. "No. Thank you, Mrs. Weasley. For saying those things… I would be honored if you'd come with me."

"Well, wonderful! Well, Arthur and I will start prepping the yard soon, and I'll dust off those tents and make sure they're in working order. You could send a list of songs you want the band to play if you like, or they'll just play their usual songs… and oh, I'll need to make sure we have enough chairs and tables. Some of them were destroyed when… well, you know what happened at the last wedding we had… Right, plenty to plan. I best get going."

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Hermione asked, scooting out of the booth as Mrs. Weasley did the same on her side.

"No, it's all pretty simple and straight forward. We'll have time for the details after school is out. The food and cake will be a bit time consuming, but now that I've got a helper, it shouldn't be as hard." Mrs. Weasley winked at Ron. "Once you ask Luna, you three girls come up with a date for dresses and owl me, alright?"

"Alright," said Hermione. Mrs. Weasley pulled her into a hug. Hermione dropped Ron's hand so she could hug her back. Then Ron hugged her as well.

Once Mrs. Weasley left, Hermione and Ron sat back down in the booth. Neither said anything for a minute or two.

"Well, wow," said Ron. "We're really going to get married."

"Yeah," Hermione breathed. She looked up and smiled at him. "I'm excited."

"I'm… surprised I'm not more nervous. But I guess, well, it's you. There's no doubt in my mind that this is right, yeah?"

"Yeah," said Hermione.

* * *

While Ron and Hermione talked about their wedding with Mrs. Weasley, Harry was walking down the seventh floor corridor, thinking about what could have possibly happened on Halloween, Christmas, Valentine's Day and a bunch of other random days that didn't really connect to one another.

Harry was walking with his head down. He didn't notice Ginny and Draco standing in an alcove, speaking quietly together, until he was practically upon them. And yet, they didn't seem to notice him yet. He thought about turning around and walking back the way he came, but he didn't want to be too obvious about trying to avoid them. So instead, he just started walking again.

And that's when Harry unintentionally performed Legiliemency on Draco. Harry had gotten so good at casting the spell nonverbally that he somehow read a single thought from Draco's mind without even using a wand.

 _Please don't let him notice Harry walking by._

"Him?" Harry repeated aloud. He couldn't help but turn to Draco and Ginny then. Ginny looked up at Harry but Harry didn't even look at her. If he had, he would have seen her eyes flash red for a second.

"Keep walking, Potter," Draco said through his teeth.

"Who is 'him'? You didn't want 'him' to notice me. The only other person here is Ginny. And I think we both know too well that she's a girl, so—"

"Watch your mouth, Potter."

"No need to defend my honor, Draco," Ginny said quietly. "It's nothing Harry. Please, leave us be, alright?"

Harry finally glanced at Ginny. She had her eyes clenched shut and she was hunched slightly, as though she had a bad stomach cramp or something.

"Go to the hospital wing, Gin," Harry demanded. "Go right now. Please just let Madam Pomfrey check you."

"No, I'm fine."

"You're not fine—"

But then Draco pulled his wand on Harry.

"Don't make me hex you," he drawled. "Now. Go away."

Harry drew his wand as well and pointed it at Draco. "I would so love for you to hex me. It'd give me an excuse to knock you senseless, you pompous ass."

"Harry, please…" Ginny said, hoisting her hand onto the wall for support. "Stop."

"Look, if you need to get away from Malfoy… if he's got you under some spell or something, you need only say the word. Even though you hate me, Ginny, I'd still do anything for you," Harry said evenly. When Ginny said nothing, Harry slipped his wand back into his pocket, he walked back the way he'd come.

* * *

"I don't think he'd turn us in if we told him," said Draco.

"Harry? He always does the right thing, even if he hurts himself doing it. He'd turn us in. Trust me," said Ginny, taking Draco's arm again now that Harry left. They started walking down the hall in the opposite direction he'd gone.

"Do you still love him?" Draco asked.

Ginny looked up at Draco and studied his face. "Yes," she admitted. "Yes, I love him very much."

"As I thought," Draco drawled, trying to keep any hurt from his voice.

Ginny seemed to have noticed though. "I care very much for you Draco. I never thought you could be so caring. You save my life every day." She kissed his cheek.

"Potter seems to have assumed that we've slept together."

"We did technically sleep together… I'd like to again, actually."

"Yes, but that gave me an idea." He glanced sidelong at her. Then, he smiled and winked.

"Are you propositioning me with sex?"

"Well it would make sense that the more intimacy you exhibit, the further at bay the demon is driven from your willpower. Surely you've noticed that."

"So to be clear, you want to sleep together?"

"Well, it'd honestly be a bit frightening. I have no desire to sleep with Voldemort. And if we do that, I could be at some point…"

"Right, I'll take it into consideration… though I honestly don't think I have enough energy anymore for that."

"Of course you do," Draco said uncomfortably.

"Is this how you ask all your girlfriends for sex?" Ginny laughed.

"No, you're not my girlfriend."

"Oh, I'm not?" Ginny asked, pursing her lips.

"Okay, everyone, including all four of our parents, thinks that we're dating and I know you better than even a husband should, but…"

"Most husbands see their wives pee at some point. And I know you enjoy watching me shower so shut up about that."

"Of course I do, I'm not blind. Or gay. Or dead…"

"Well, you may kiss me if you want to. I loved kissing you at your house."

"You just want to use me so you don't have to listen to Voldemort verbally abuse you for a few minutes."

"Can you blame me? You just want to kiss me because you think I'm pretty."

"Who said I wanted to kiss you?"

"You just asked me to have sex with you but you don't want to kiss me?"

"Well…" Draco stepped toward Ginny and, cupping her cheek in his hand, he kissed her. After a few seconds though, she pulled away.

"Sorry," she said, shaking her head.

"You feel too guilty."

"Of course I do. You know I'm using you and you know I'm in love with someone else. None of this is fair to you."

"It's completely fair to me. I'm doing my penance."

"That's what this is to you?" Ginny's eyes widened as she looked up at Draco. "Of course it is. I knew you were doing it for Harry, but yeah, of course. You're doing this to sort of hurt yourself too. That's why you're still helping me and you haven't just turned me in. You like knowing that my pain is your fault or something."

"No, well yes, but I don't like that you're in pain."

Ginny let go of Draco's arm and stepped back. "Don't follow me. This has gone too far. I'm going to manage for myself from now on."

"But you can't. Don't you remember what happened last month?"

She was already walking away from him in the direction that Harry had gone. She turned and said, "I don't care. I'll make do with potions and charms. You're off the hook, alright?"

He shook his head. "I'm sorry, alright? Please, Ginny, I… you're going to kill him—"

But she was already too far down the hall to hear him.


	64. Jobberknoll

After Ron and Hermione had sat for a few minutes while talking a bit more about the wedding, they got up to head back to Hogwarts. As they started walking back up the road, they came upon Luna and Neville. They were both crouching down, looking at something in the grass on the edge of the wooded area nearby.

"We could ask them now," Hermione said softly to Ron.

"They look busy," said Ron, making a face.

"Oh, come on," said Hermione, taking Ron's hand.

"Hi," said Hermione as they drew nearer.

"Oh, hello," said Luna, looking over her shoulder. Neville had something cupped in his hands. "Speak softly or you might scare it."

"What is it?" Ron asked apprehensively.

Neville straightened up and opened his cupped hands a bit to show Hermione and Ron.

"It's a fledgling jobberknoll," he said quietly, "It must have fallen from its nest. I want to take him to Hagrid so he might live. The mother will leave it for dead."

"Oh, I know what those are," said Hermione and then said to Ron, "Their feathers are used in truth and memory potions. Professor Slughorn was talking about them while you were passing notes with Harry the other day."

"Do you think it'll survive?" said Ron to Neville.

"Well, as long as he's quiet, he's alright. But he'll start telling us everything he ever heard if he is going to die. So if he starts talking, it's too late."

"Yes, best to watch what you say around it," said Hermione.

"Can I carry him?" Luna asked Neville. He nodded and she cupped her palms. Gently, Neville laid the baby bird into her hands.

"Well come on, we best get him to Hagrid sooner than later," he said and set off back toward the castle. Ron walked with him. Hermione matched pace with Luna, who was walking slightly slower so she wouldn't drop the baby bird.

"So how are you Luna?"

"I'm well. I've fallen in love with Neville, but I don't think he feels the same about me." Neville glanced back at this, but didn't say anything. Hermione had thought the boys were out of earshot, but obviously they weren't.

"Oh…"

"It's alright though," said Luna, "I've decided to just enjoy his company for now. Probably we'll go our separate ways over the summer. It's wonderful to be in love, don't you think?"

"Yes."

"You're in love with Ron. It's very obvious."

"Yes, actually we were just planning our wedding a bit. I'd like to ask you—would you be a bridesmaid in our wedding?"

"Oh!" said Luna, holding the baby bird against her chest as she stopped walking, "I'd love to! Thank you for asking me!"

"Great," said Hermione brightly, "Thanks for saying yes!"

"So," said Luna as they continued to walk, "When did you first realize you were in love with him?"

"Um… I'm not sure really." Hermione watched as Neville patted Ron on the shoulder. Apparently Ron had asked Neville to be a groomsman. "There wasn't a day that I realized it. It just sort of happened over time."

"Yeah, I could tell he loved you back when I met you both," she said.

"Mm. You should have told me," Hermione joked.

Luna looked at Hermione and then smiled. "Well, you needed to find it out on your own." She shrugged. "Just like with Harry. Did you ever end up telling Ron about what happened over the summer?"

"Luna," Hermione whispered, glancing at the back of Ron's head. He turned his head slightly, glancing at Neville, who was shaking his head and shrugging as though he didn't know something.

"The kissing on the bathroom floor I mean?" Luna said, her protuberant eyes on Hermione. Ron glanced back over his shoulder at Hermione and she knew that he'd heard.

They were just reaching the front gate of Hogwarts.

"Luna, love," said Neville, walking back to them, "Er, maybe let's walk on ahead, I want to get the bird to Hagrid's sooner than later."

"Oh, alright," said Luna, nodding. Neville led her quickly away up the path and then down the sloping hill toward Hagrid's hut.

"So," said Ron as Hermione walked slowly toward him, closing the gap. "What's this Luna was saying?"

"Er," said Hermione. Hermione watched Luna and Neville walk away while she and Ron continued walking up toward the front doors of the castle. "I got high on Wizard's Weed with Harry, Luna, and Neville during the party we had the first week we were at Number Twelve. I saw a Fate that involved Harry… and when I came-to, I erm, I was kissing him. I suppose the alcohol makes you lose the disconnect between the Fate and reality…"

"Oh okay," said Ron with a shaky voice. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want to hurt you," said Hermione. "Neither did Harry. And you were so drunk… we could have told you and you wouldn't have remembered anyway… and then there just wasn't a good time to tell you… and well—"

"You're talking very fast," said Ron. His ears were red.

"Yes, well, I'm quite worried, aren't I? Are you angry with me?"

"Should I be angry?" said Ron, glancing over at Hermione. She tried to calm herself down by taking a deep breath.

"Well…" she said. They stopped walking halfway up the path toward the front doors. She thought about her conversation with Harry at four in the morning in the hospital wing last month. How they'd vowed to each other to take their secret tryst to their graves…

And yet if she didn't tell Ron the truth now, and he found out later… how would he ever trust her? Would they be building their marriage on a lie? She didn't want to lie to him…

"Yes, you have every right to be angry," said Hermione. She looked down to the pebbly ground below her feet. She felt Ron's gaze on her face. She couldn't look at him if she were to continue. "It wasn't just one kiss."

"How many kisses were there?"

"I don't know," said Hermione, glancing around for help and finding none. Hot tears fell down her face. She wiped them away.

"There were that many? So many that you can't remember? Because you were drunk?"

"Some of them, yes, they were while we were drunk."

"Wait, so you kissed him on different days and not just that night of the party?"

"Right," she said. "I'm so sorry Ron."

"So when you slept with me that first time… You begged me to never leave you… it was because you cheated on me. Is that why you said those things?"

"Yes, I suppose," she said. She could barely see because the tears were clouding her vision so badly. She blinked hard, letting the tears fall where they may.

"Did you sleep with him?" he asked quietly.

"No," she said quickly. "No, but… well, you were there on Halloween, of course… but no…"

"But you'd done other things with him, right?"

"Oh, Ron, do you really want to know?"

"Yes!" he said loudly, causing Hermione to flinch. "Yes, I want to know every bloody detail so I know whether or not I ought to go murder Harry right now or just beat him to a bloody pulp!"

"Please, Ron," Hermione said, reaching for his arm. He leaned away and stepped back.

"Don't bloody touch me, 'Mione. Tell me. Tell me everything."

"It was just… we were just confused. I was afraid of my feelings for you… Ginny had broken things off with him… Our little… relationship—it didn't last long. We were a bit, erm—"

"Relationship?" he said in an abnormally high voice, "Hang on, you were afraid of your feelings for me so you thought you'd go snog Harry? That makes no sense at all."

"We didn't—we weren't in love or anything. I mean, I love Harry, but it wasn't like that… We just wanted to see what was there between us. We didn't expect it to, well…"

"Alright, actually, I can't hear another word or I might hurt you," he said, raising his hands up as though Hermione were pointing a gun at him.

He turned and trudged quickly back up toward the castle and wrenched open one of the heavy front doors. Hermione hurried quickly after him, wiping her face on her sleeves as she did.

"Please, Ron, none of it is Harry's fault," she said as she tried to catch up with him.

Ron didn't stop to listen. Hermione knew he was heading for the Defense classrooms.

As she hurried to catch up with him, she thought about Obliviating him… but no. He really should know what happened. Even if it ruined both of their happiness, possibly forever. He deserved to know.

She wished there was some way to warn Harry.

"Stop thinking so loud, Hermione, or I might have to Obliviate you, too," Ron spat over his shoulder.

"How—" she started.

"Damned Legilimency," Ron said under his breath. He blasted open the locked door to Harry's classroom and strode up toward Harry's private rooms. He wasn't there.

"Maybe he had to leave the grounds," Hermione said, mostly to herself. "Please, Ron… please can we at least talk about this…" She reached out toward him and again he stepped away from her reach.

She followed Ron back out into the hall and back toward the staircase. He went upstairs…

Soon they found Harry. He was just outside of the Gryffindor Common room, walking down the hall. He was looking down and obviously in deep thought.

"Harry, watch out!" Hermione yelled toward him. He glanced up, drawing his wand.

Ron strode toward Harry, raising a fist. "How could you?!"

"What—" Harry started but then Ron punched him hard enough that Harry fell backward to the floor. Ron stepped forward, knelt down and punched Harry again.

"Please Ron, stop!" Hermione yelled uselessly. Soon, Dean and Seamus were there—they'd just climbed out of the portrait hole along with a few fourth and fifth years. The younger students seemed interested in the fight at first but then hurried fearfully away when they saw who was fighting…

Harry wasn't trying to fight back. Instead, he was only trying to block some of the worst of Ron's blows.

Hermione heard Dean say, "What is going on?"

Meanwhile, Ginny had caught up to the fight. And then Draco was there too.

Hermione noticed then, to her utter horror, that Harry wasn't trying to block Ron anymore. He wasn't moving.

Dean and Seamus stepped forward and tried to pry Ron off of Harry but Ron was too strong.

Draco flicked his wand. Ron was hanging in the air by his ankle a second later. His face quickly began to turn red as he huffed, catching his breath.

Harry didn't get up. As Ginny was nearest, she crouched down to check Harry. Hermione couldn't bring herself to step any closer to him.

"He's still alive," Ginny said quietly. Draco shot silver sparks at Harry and then muttered " _Innervate._ " Harry immediately started coughing and rolled slightly, coughing blood onto the floor. His face was a mess of bleeding cuts and newly-forming bruises.

Draco flicked his wand again and Ron fell to the floor. He stood up, holding his punching hand close to himself. "Wedding's off," he spat at Hermione, and he turned and went back down the hall toward the marble staircase.

Hermione hugged herself, crying quietly. Dean, who stood closest to her, tentatively patted her shoulder. Meanwhile, Draco came closer to Ginny and whispered something. Ginny pulled herself from his grasp as she watched Seamus come closer to them. Dean and Hermione followed as Seamus levitated Harry to the hospital wing.


	65. Brutal Honesty

"Goodness sakes, what happened now?" Madam Pomfrey said as Seamus lowered Harry to the nearest bed. He had fallen unconscious again during the short trip to the hospital wing.

"Was beaten up," said Seamus. Dean had his hand on Hermione's back as she cried into her hands. Every once in a while, he tentatively patted her back, as though he were afraid to touch her much more than that. They watched as Madam Pomfrey healed cuts and bruises on Harry's face.

"I just want to see if he's alright," came Ginny's voice from the doorway. She strode in, followed closely by Draco.

"He'll live," said Madam Pomfrey without looking up. " _Episkey_ ," she said in a bored voice. Harry's nose cracked itself into a straight line again. And then, " _Innervate._ "

Harry stirred. "What happened?" he said hoarsely before he'd opened his eyes. Dean slipped Harry's glasses from his pocket and handed them to him as he sat up. Hermione quieted herself, though tears still leaked freely from the corners of her eyes.

"Ron was going to kill you, mate," Dean said when no one else spoke. "We had to pull him off you, well… we tried… but then Malfoy got him with a _Levicorpus._ "

"Oh," he said, glancing at Hermione. "Well, I'm fine now I think." He turned so he sat on the edge of the bed.

"Yes, you're fine, you all may go," said Madam Pomfrey, waving a hand into the air as she turned and retreated back into her rooms.

Dean and Seamus left first, muttering things like, "Ron's a bloody beast" and "Feel better." Ginny seemed as though she didn't want to leave until she was assured again that Harry would be fine.

She held Harry's gaze for a moment. He wondered if his eyes were playing tricks on him: for a second, he thought her eyes had turned as red as her hair. But then, blinking hard, he saw that her eyes looked her normal brown again.

"Let's go, Ginevra," said Draco, a hand resting on her shoulder.

"Leave me alone," she said through gritted teeth into his face. Harry stood up at this and stepped forward. Hermione stayed still, watching them.

"You don't want to do this," Draco said to her, barely moving his lips. "Please, let's go."

Harry waited to see what she'd do. But then, to his dismay, she turned and left with Draco. Harry saw that Hermione looked as confused by this as he felt…

Hermione started walking toward the door and Harry followed her. "Are you alright?" he asked from behind her. She glanced over her shoulder at him and waited a few steps until he had caught up to her.

"Well, I told Ron," she explained as she and Harry left the hospital wing. "He probably doesn't know whether he's killed you or not."

"I'm sure he'll find out soon enough," said Harry. "I thought we weren't going to tell him?"

"I'm sorry, I should have told you first." She was trying not to start crying again. "But Luna mentioned the kiss in the bathroom and he heard her, and then well, I thought it'd be best for him to know the truth. I don't want to live a lie anymore… I _cheated_ on him, Harry."

"I know…"

"And," she said, wiping her nose, "The wedding's off now. I think… I wonder if he'll ever speak to me again."

"Of course he will," Harry said, though honestly he wasn't sure. Ron held loyalty up as probably his most important virtue… it was a wonder that he hadn't been placed in Hufflepuff, really… "I only got what I deserved. They shouldn't have stopped him. He should have been allowed to hit me to his heart's content."

"Harry, don't say that," said Hermione. "Let's talk about something else, alright?"

They were both quiet for a moment as they started up the stairs.

"Okay… Er, so, you know how I met with Shacklebolt?" Harry said.

"Mm hm," said Hermione, wiping her eyes with her sleeve again.

"Well, they said there was dark magic performed on Halloween at Hogwarts and there have been little episodes since then. They want me to see if I can find anything out."

"Interesting," said Hermione, scrunching her eyebrows. He waited to see if she'd say anything else. He had to wait a full minute, but she did speak again. "Well, did you find anything out?"

"Oh," said Harry. "Well, I was thinking that the only thing I know of from Halloween was that memorial, but of course I doubt that that's where the dark magic was. After all, they were public about it. It'd probably be one or two people by themselves you'd think, right? Doing something secretively."

"Yes, you're probably right. It may be impossible to find out…" They reached the seventh floor landing and started down the hall toward the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Though," said Harry, "What if it _was_ that memorial thing? It wasn't supervised by a teacher in any way. And it was at night in the Forbidden Forest, which in itself is strange."

"Yes, I thought so at the time."

"Right," said Harry, "but how would a large group like that keep secret the fact that they performed dark magic together?"

"Well, they could have done a hexed parchment like I did with the D.A.," said Hermione, "Or they could have done something that would get you sent to Azkaban."

"Right. Of course." They reached the portrait hole, but Harry kept walking a few paces down the hall to where Ron had punched him. There, he used _scourgify_ and cleaned up the clotted blood he'd spat on the floor earlier. As he did this, Hermione continued speaking, though she didn't watch Harry. Instead, she looked away toward the windows nearby.

"With some powerful, ancient sorts of things, like the ancient songs—"

"Is that like the thing that Snape did to heal Malfoy with _Sectumsempra_?"

"Right," said Hermione, nodding and smiling faintly when he glanced up at her. He was looking for any blood he might have missed. (He found some inexplicably on one of the windows. Hermione looked back toward the Fat Lady when he found it.) "They are amplified in places where magic is routinely performed, such as a school, or a place where rituals were performed in ancient times. Also, the more magical people present in one place at one time, if their magic is concentrated then it becomes stronger together. It's like the law in potions relating to antidotes—"

"Wow, so actually, it makes total sense that it would be that group of people in the Forbidden Forest. They must have met in that same clearing that Ginny and I were drawn to when we were high on Hush. From what you were saying before… it's the same sort of idea."

"Yes," said Hermione, as Harry rejoined her, "Right. Exactly. They would have met in that clearing." And then, she said to the Fat Lady, "Bravery."

Harry followed her into the Gryffindor Common Room. "It's the clearing where I faced Voldemort," said Harry "When I sort of er, well, half-died."

"Right," said Hermione, sitting down on the sofa in front of the fireplace. "So who was there?"

Harry sat down in his old favorite chair near her. He leaned toward her so they could speak quietly as there were a couple of other people at a table across the room playing Wizard's Chess. "Well, I don't really know. I know that it was the Slytherins leading it… but I don't have a list of the people who went."

"There was a sign-up sheet, wasn't there?"

"No, it was by invitation only. That's why I didn't go."

"But you must know someone who went. You could ask Malfoy if he went."

"He'll just lie even if he did go."

"Then just quickly perform Legilimency on him before he closes his mind," Hermione said, shrugging. Harry glanced up at her, studying her face. "What? You need to know what he knows and he probably knows at least some small detail to help you."

"That's true," said Harry, nodding. "And I don't even have the first clue as to what they did. And apparently they keep doing it. Or something like it…"

"Mm."

Harry saw that Ron had come in through the portrait hole then. Automatically, Harry stood. He didn't draw his wand though he wanted to.

But when Ron looked over at them, Harry knew there wasn't any more fight in him. He looked broken.

Hermione, whose back was to the portrait hole, stood then, turning to face Ron. "Ron, please," Hermione started forward, reaching her hand up. "Please, will you talk to me?"

He didn't move. He glanced over at the two playing chess. They had looked up at Hermione, probably because she sounded like she was going to cry. But then they looked quickly back down at their game and studied the pieces far more intently than they had been previously.

It was quiet for a moment while Ron looked at them. "Watch out mate, he'll have you in checkmate in two moves." The one facing Ron looked up at him and then back down at the board.

"Thanks," said the boy, smiling.

"Sure," he said. He didn't smile back.

"I'm sure you two would like to talk about this alone," said Harry. "I'll be off, shall I?"

"No," said Ron, crossing his arms over his chest. "No, I won't hit you again. At least, I don't think I will. Come on, I want to talk to you, Harry."

"Alright," said Harry, steeling himself.

"Let's go for a walk on the grounds. I think better on my feet," said Ron, stepping back toward the portrait hole.

Wordlessly, Harry walked forward and Hermione followed.

Once the three of them were together at the portrait hole though, Ron turned to Hermione.

"No, Hermione," Ron said, his voice shaking slightly. "Just Harry, yeah?"

"Oh, of course," she said, just above a whisper. She turned away before either of them could see her reaction. Ron turned away immediately too and left through the portrait hole.

Harry felt like he'd gutted both of his best friends. Instead of dwelling on it, he closed his mind in an attempt to calm himself and followed Ron out.

"So," said Ron. He walked slowly with his arms crossed over his chest, each of his palms resting on the opposite arm's bicep. "What you said after we killed the locket, about you and her just being friends? That was a load of rubbish."

"No, I believed it at the time. And we are only friends now," said Harry.

"So during the summer it was different somehow?"

They walked toward the stairs. Harry followed Ron, not caring where they would go. "Well, we were only friends then too, but we didn't realize it."

"Friends snog do they?"

Harry didn't know what to say to this. His first reaction was going to be to say, "You tell me" but he didn't think it'd be good to be snarky right now. They were down a flight of stairs before Harry spoke. Instead he said, "I kissed her for the first time by accident while high on Wizard's Weed."

"I know."

"Right. So…"

"I want to know everything. Tell me everything. I promise I'll try not to hit you or anything, alright?"

"Okay… well… It was all very confusing because neither of us ever would have expected that we would have been the least bit… well... attracted to each other. I mean, I know she's not ugly, but I was never dreaming about her or anything. Not like, well…" Ron nodded but stayed quiet, so Harry took this as a cue to continue, "She was very upset after waking up while kissing me and she went upstairs during the party. I went to find her and that's when you came upstairs drunk and I left the two of you alone together." Harry had muddled through this so slowly that they were already down by the Great Hall by the time he finished it.

It was quiet while they walked out onto the grounds. It was a cool spring day.

Ron finally spoke when they were halfway toward the lake. "I know that much. Tell me, how many times did you kiss her and what else did you do? And why shouldn't I believe that you're not continuing a secret relationship to this day?"

"I could show it all to you in the Pensieve?" said Harry. He dreaded telling Ron any of this, let alone all of it.

"No, I don't think I could stand that."

"Right." He wanted to ask Ron why he wanted to know all of it, but he didn't. After all, though Harry had been dumped, he'd never been cheated on… he had no idea what he'd want to know or what he'd feel like. "Er, Hermione came to me the night after the party while you were sleeping. She couldn't sleep and only had the intention to talk. We kissed then too. I think we both wanted to prove to ourselves that it was the weed and alcohol that made us confused. But that wasn't the case."

"Go on," said Ron. He looked pale. They started slowly walking along the edge of the lake.

"Well, the next day, we drank a few shots together—I'd quit my job, and Hermione had proposed to you."

"She kissed you that day?" Ron said, horrified.

"Yeah," said Harry. He found it very hard to swallow. "She proposed I think in a reaction to what was going on between her and me. I mean, of course she loves you, and she wanted to marry you anyway. But I think this sped things up a bit for her. I think she was trying to keep me away from her."

"So you went to her and kissed her after she came home from having lunch with me?"

"Well, yeah, I don't remember who started kissing who. We kissed on the sofa and then she came upstairs and we well, we got into bed and—we took our clothes off—and…"

"So you did sleep with her?"

"No, Ginny showed up thankfully."

" _Ginny_ bloody knew about this?" Ron said, looking at Harry for the first time since in the Gryffindor Common Room.

"No, she didn't know. I never told her. It's not like she walked in on us. She came in the house but we were upstairs."

"Oh."

"And then you two slept together that night. I Obliviated her in the morning and that was it. She remembered it all by chance about a month ago and told me she had and that we should never tell you because you didn't deserve the pain it would cause you."

It was quiet then except for the crunch of pebbles under their feet as they walked. Harry gazed out at the shining lake, trying to stay calm as the silence stretched on between them.

"So," said Ron after a few minutes, "she was in bed with you on the same day that she and I slept together for the first time."

Harry stayed silent. He wished he had something comforting and supportive to say but nothing came to mind. "Yes," said Harry finally, wishing it weren't true.

"And it was really only like two or three days, and you laid in bed naked with her and kissed but nothing more."

"Well, if you want to be technical, there was Halloween…"

Ron shook his head. "She wanted you to Obliviate her? Or did you do it without her asking?"

"She asked me to. She offered to do the same for me but I said no. Only one could Obliviate the other, after all, and I deserved to live with the guilt."

"And she didn't deserve to?" said Ron raising his eyebrows.

"She didn't want to remember it at all… I'll be honest that part of me wanted to remember. I feel like that was the difference. I don't think she ever made a conscious decision to do anything that we did. At least, it didn't seem that way. I know I didn't decide to do it, but she was fighting it the whole time."

"I'm glad she wanted to forget," said Ron in a hollow voice.

"What made us stop was you. Neither of us wanted to hurt you. We knew we already _had_ hurt you, but we were thankful that we hadn't gone any further."

"So if it wasn't for me, do you think you would have fallen in love with her?"

"I think I was just broken up about Ginny not wanting me… and the Fates make everything confusing."

"Yeah, I know, but you didn't answer my question."

"Well, I hadn't really thought about it much," said Harry. "Because it doesn't matter. She loves you more than she could ever love me. And I love you more than the possibility of ever being in love with Hermione."

"Mm," said Ron. Harry could tell that Ron was trying not to cry. "Thanks for saying that."

"It's true," said Harry, "And there's the small fact that I'm still in love with Ginny, even if she told me she wishes I would die. While I'm being brutally honest."

"She said that?" said Ron, momentarily distracted. He glanced at Harry.

"Yeah." Harry shrugged.


	66. That Night

That night, Harry couldn't sleep. He kept thinking about the look on Ron's face. The hollow sound of his voice.

"I forgive you," was the last thing that Ron had said in their conversation around the lake, but Harry wondered if things would ever be the same between them. After all, Harry had done the one thing that Ron had always feared the most.

Turning on his side, Harry punched his pillow. It had been cathartic to tell Ron everything that he'd told him. He hadn't realized how much it had all been weighing on him—even the fact that he was still in love with Ginny…

Harry forced himself to shut his eyes. His eyes were blurry anyway with his glasses off. He thought he'd probably only get a headache if he didn't at least try to keep his eyes closed and fall asleep.

When Harry heard the door to his bedroom creak open, he had been in a twilight between half asleep and still ruminating over Ron and everything that had been said.

"Who's there?" Harry said, quickly grabbing his glasses and shoving them onto his face as he sat up. He grabbed his wand and lit it with a nonverbal _lumos_.

By wandlight, she stood stock still at the end of the bed, her own wandtip unlit though her wand was raised. She only wore a short, thin nightgown and was barefoot.

"Ginny?" Harry asked, incredulously. "Am I dreaming? What are you doing here?"

"Ava—I, ah, I…," she started. "Where am I?"

"What?" He flicked his wand at the nearest candle and lit it. But then Ginny turned back toward Harry and stepped forward. She ran her fingertips of her wandless hand lightly along his quilt.

"Harry," she said then, her face breaking into a worried expression. "Please will you hug me?"

"Alright," he said, surprised. He was confused but he wasn't going to start questioning her.

He dropped his wand to his bedside stand and slid halfway out of bed. Then, he gently pulled her into a hug, hyper-aware of the fact that he was only wearing his boxers.

She seemed to relax into his arms. "You're so warm," she said softly.

"Yeah, well, I was just in bed."

"I must have sleepwalked here. I don't remember coming here," she whispered, and she shuttered a little.

"You can sleep here tonight, alright? I won't tell Mal—er, anyone. I will sleep on the floor, okay?"

She didn't move from hugging him. "You were going to say Malfoy, weren't you?"

"He's your boyfriend, isn't he?" Harry asked, reluctant to let go of her.

"No, he's not my boyfriend. We just let everyone think that we were dating," she said. She let go of him but then stepped around him and slipped into his bed. She held out her hand to him and he slipped his hand in hers as he climbed back into his bed.

"I wish that joke had been true," Harry said quietly. Ginny pulled Harry's arms so he had one tucked under her neck and the other was wrapped around her waist. Her head was resting on his chest again.

"Well, I'm done with him."

"Yeah? Like you were done with me?" he asked as she nuzzled down against his chest.

"No, not like how I was supposedly done with you at all," she said. She still had her wand in her hand that was tucked under his arm, Harry belatedly realized. He carefully took it from her and laid it next to his on the bedside stand. "Thanks, I have a hard time putting that stupid stick down for some reason."

Harry wondered if it was because Draco was always taking her wand from her but he didn't want to mention that now. Something else was bothering him more. "Sorry if I'm pestering you, but seeing as how you're in my bed and all… how is your breaking things off with Malfoy different than with me?"

"He wanted to sleep with me. I did not want to sleep with him. So I won't be seeing him again."

"You and him hadn't slept together?"

"Well we did sleep in the same bed one night at his parents' house. And he's seen me naked for reasons best left unsaid. But no, Harry, I didn't have sex with him."

It was quiet for a few seconds.

"Good."

"I'm surprised you care," Ginny whispered.

"Are you surprised? You're in my bed right now after having barely spoken to me for months. You must know what kind of hold you have over me." Harry peered down at her through his eyelashes as she lifted her head from his chest. She smiled at him and he half-smiled back.

Then, slowly, she lifted her hand and pushed his hair back from his forehead. He closed his eyes at her touch. Then, gently, she pulled his glasses from his face and laid them on top of their wands on the table.

Harry took her hand in his and slowly interlaced their fingers. Something deep in his stomach reveled at the touch of her hand against his.

Then, she moved a little closer, pressing herself up against him as she lifted her chin toward him. He held her hand in his own against his chest and kissed her, and he seemed to melt into her a little.

They deepened their kiss. Ginny moved her hand from where it laid on Harry's chest up to the scruff on his face and rubbed her hand against his jaw.

Meanwhile, he moved his hand down to her bottom and slid his hand over her silky nightgown. He remembered their night together over the summer then, when he had snuck into her bedroom late at night. Somehow, it was as though no time had passed.

And yet now, everything was different.

* * *

Hermione couldn't sleep. She was uncomfortable in her bed. When she was covered, she was too hot, uncovered too cold. She tried sticking one foot out from under her covers and found that uncomfortable as well.

She got up and went to the window to the pitcher of water and poured a glass for herself. She took a sip. Everyone else's hangings were drawn, including Ginny's. It was tempting to draw them back and wake her so they could talk, but Hermione knew that Ginny wouldn't want to talk about Ron. They were siblings after all.

Who she really wanted to talk to was Ron, but there was no way to talk to him, short of sending him an owl or else sneaking into the boys' dormitory. Anyway, Hermione was sure that Ron would be sleeping, despite the happenings of the day.

She wandered down to the Common Room and found it to be deserted, as she expected. Crossing her arms over her chest, she walked around to the front of the sofa in front of the fireplace. And then, she was so startled that she almost screamed.

But it was Ron. Ron was sitting on the floor, leaning back against the sofa. His knees were drawn up so his feet were flat on the floor. He looked up at her and she could plainly see that he'd been crying.

She fought every fiber in her being to stay where she was. She wanted to go to him and wipe the tears from his face and kiss him and take his pain away.

But she was the cause of the pain. She didn't want his heart to break any more than it already had. If her touch hurt him, she wouldn't let herself touch him.

"Hi," she said. "I…" She thought maybe he still wouldn't want to talk to her. It hadn't even been a day, after all. "Sorry, I didn't realize you were down here. I'm sorry… I'll leave you be." She was about to leave but Ron stood up.

"Wait," he said quietly. "You don't have to go."

She didn't move. "I don't?"

He sat down on the far end of the sofa and then patted the cushion next to him a couple of times. She came over and sat down next to him. "I was thinking about everything that you and Harry had said… and everything that you two did over those couple of days…"

"Yeah?"

"And I'm not going to stop loving you. Not because of this. You could have had sex with him a hundred times and half of the Slytherins to boot and I'd still love you."

She was shocked by this but kept her face passive. She didn't want him to stop talking. After a moment of dead silence, Ron continued.

"But is loving you enough for a relationship? For a marriage? If you don't love me as much as I love you? If you might not be loyal to me enough to remain faithful to me?"

"Oh Ron," Hermione said. She couldn't help herself. She was fighting against a sudden tidal wave of tears that wanted to flood out of her.

"Harry said you didn't go any further with him because you didn't want to hurt me. He told me you asked him to Obliviate you. These two things are all that's giving me any hope at all that I can trust you. I never thought I would be questioning such a thing, Hermione. You've always been so steadfast and strong and loyal and faithful to me. But the thing is, you were all those things for Harry—probably more so, most of the time. The fact that you cheated with _Harry_ makes me question you most of all…"

It was dead silent again. Hermione hoped it was safe to talk because she couldn't stay silent any longer.

"The love I have for you is forever, Ron," Hermione said quietly. "You have always been the sunlight to me. My warmth. I wouldn't be who I am if it hadn't been for you teaching me how to be loving and kind." She took a sharp breath in as she tried in vain to keep herself from sobbing. "Harry is my best friend too. And I love him, Ron, but he is no match for you in my heart. I know there's no way to make you believe me. I know that you'd always been afraid that I'd fall in love with him, but I've had that opportunity now and I didn't want it. I didn't want him. Not that way. There was never a moment where I was… where I was kissing him… and it wasn't colored it guilt and a sadness inside of me. Please…" but she was sobbing now. "Please—"

Ron pulled her hands away from her face and then he was kissing her, hard. Hermione was still crying but she kissed him back. She kept her eyes shut tightly. She was afraid that if she opened her eyes, that this might have all just been a dream and she'd wake up and not be kissing him.

He pulled roughly at the buttons of her pajama top, pulling it open. Normally, she would have protested at the idea of being exposed like this in a public area, but she just didn't care right now. All she cared about was Ron… she wanted Ron to feel better, to still want her and love her and for him to forgive her.

He pulled her down onto the sofa and was holding himself up over top of her.

"Yes, yes, Ron," she whispered, peering through tear-heavy eyelashes up at him. He looked so sad that she couldn't bare to look at his face for very long. She pulled his face toward her and kissed him again as he pulled her bottoms down. They were only half off before he was inside her. He'd surprised her but it was alright. She was ready for him.

Ron moved fast in her, holding her down with a hand on her shoulder. She kept kissing him as she held onto a fistful of his shirt. He moved faster and faster…

Hermione moaned into his mouth as he kissed her. It had never been like this before…

And he found a rhythm that was hard and fast. She tried to keep up with him, but mostly she felt like she was falling apart and her joints all felt like they'd been hit with a jelly legs curse.

Then, he came, moaning into her neck as he did. He collapsed down onto Hermione and nuzzled into her breasts. Tears were still falling from Hermione's eyes but she no longer felt like crying. She held Ron tightly, kissing his hair and his forehead as she ran his hand down his back.

"Will you marry me still?" he asked her without lifting his head from her breasts.

"Of course I'll marry you. I'll marry you tomorrow if you like," she whispered back.

* * *

Ginny was naked and straddling Harry. He reached up and fondled her breasts as she rocked slowly, up and down on him. It was the loveliest torture.

Harry sat up too, bending his knees slightly so Ginny had to stay close to him. He took one of her nipples into his mouth and ran it lightly between his teeth.

This was like every dream he'd had since the last time he'd slept with her back in the beginning of the school year. Every fantasy.

She was definitely thinner now… bony even. But now that she was his again, maybe things would seem a little brighter. Maybe they could be happy. Except… was she his again? Well, for right now she was…

He was momentarily distracted by her necklace. It was the only thing she was still wearing… he'd never seen it before, or had he? There was something familiar about that black pendant. Maybe he'd seen it and just had never noticed it before.

Harry gently turned so Ginny was under him on the bed. She tucked her knees up so they grazed his shoulders.

"Ah," Harry exhaled. Together, he and Ginny began speeding up their rocking, ever so slightly. And then he could feel Ginny urging him faster. He didn't have the will to stay slow any longer.

He went faster and she matched his rhythm. He held each of her hands in his, their fingers intertwined, pinning her arms to the bed.

Gently, Harry kissed her as he moved, and she moaned quietly into his mouth. And he felt rather than heard her coming around him.

He couldn't hold out any more—she'd put him over the edge.

He performed the charm for her. Then, he fell asleep soon after, with the comforting feel of her right hand held tightly in his right hand, his other arm tucked under her neck and her other arm draped over him so she was loosely hugging him. It was an amazing feeling.


	67. Dreams and Morning

Hermione performed the charm on herself though she was already half asleep. Ron watched her bare chest as she doze by the low firelight. Her nightshirt was tucked behind her. He didn't want to wake her—she looked so peaceful.

But it wouldn't do to sleep here either.

He kissed her but she was sleeping and only sort of kissed him back. So, he pulled her pajama bottoms up and pulled her nightshirt back onto her and buttoned a few of the buttons. Then, he carried her up the stairs to the boys' dormitory.

Thankfully, Dean and Seamus both had their hangings drawn closed. Ron laid Hermione down in his bed and pulled the hangings shut. Then, he laid down next to her and soon fell asleep, their limbs intertwined…

* * *

 _I'm going to kill you, Harry Potter. And I am going to use your slag to do it._

Harry had nearly fallen asleep when a voice—unmistakably Voldemort's voice—had come into his head. Ginny was sleeping soundly… Harry's arm had fallen asleep so that it tingled. Careful not to wake her, he slid his arm out from under her head so it was tucked under her pillow instead.

Harry listened hard for the voice again. Was this part of PMTD? On the rare occasions that Harry was left home while the Dursleys went out for the evening, Harry would sometimes sneak-watch the tele. He'd seen a war movie once that had depicted flashbacks and PTSD. Maybe this was the same sort of thing?

When Harry heard nothing for a few minutes except for the nearly-silent sound of Ginny's breathing, he let himself shut his eyes again. Soon, as the feeling returned to his arm, he fell asleep.

* * *

Mary Cattermole sat with chains around her wrists and ankles were she sat before the Wizengamot. They'd taken her wand away. Ron glanced around but Harry wasn't there to help him. He was on his own.

But then, Ron realized, that Harry was the one putting Mary on trial. Except it wasn't Mary in the seat any longer, it was Hermione.

"Harry, you can't do this! You know she's a witch!" Ron yelled to Harry, who had the locket hanging around his neck.

"She's not a witch," Harry said gravely, shaking his head. Ron looked around again, and he saw two brooms there. His wand was suddenly in his hand but it hadn't been only a moment before. He blasted the chains from Hermione's wrists and ankles and mounted one of the brooms.

"Come on!" Ron coaxed. "Get on the other broom! We have to get out of here. The fiendfyre! Let's go, Hermione!"

"I can't!" she said, "You know I'm a terrible flyer!"

He wrenched her onto the back of his own broom as the fiendfyre engulfed the stands that the Wizengamot was in, but then Harry was there on the other broom.

"Go! Let's go!" Harry yelled and Ron and Hermione sped down the hallways on their broom, Harry following shortly after. But up ahead there were at least a hundred dementors.

"We have to stab them in the head!" Harry called. "With your wand! Use your wand!"

But then Ron's wand had disappeared again.

"Just use a Patronus charm, Harry!" Ron yelled back.

Ron woke with a start, breathing hard. It was morning—he could tell by the thin beam of light peeking through the crack between the hangings and the headboard. Hermione was still asleep next to him, one of her arms laying on his chest, the other was tucked under the side of her face.

He heard the rustling of someone getting dressed. Dean and Seamus were speaking quietly to one another.

"I can't believe he said that in front of everyone like that. I feel sorry for Hermione," whispered Seamus. Ron's anger at hearing this quickly ebbed away to embarrassment.

"Yeah, but I can't even imagine what Harry and Hermione could have done to warrant that sort of reaction from him," Dean whispered back. "I mean, he loves them both so much… for a few years I wondered if he wasn't… you know…"

"Stuck on Harry instead of Hermione?"

"Well, yeah," Dean laughed quietly.

"I wondered it too… couldn't blame him though, Harry's quite the handsome lad." Ron listened as they left the room, Dean's subdued laughter trailing away.

"Hermione," Ron whispered, shaking her shoulder slightly.

Her eyes fluttered open. "Oh, goodness, I must have fallen asleep on the sofa. Thank you, Ron."

"You're welcome," he said. He studied her face for a moment as she looked up at him. The dream was still so fresh in his mind… "Do you ever dream about everything we did?"

"I don't normally remember my dreams," Hermione said. Ron looked down and watched as she trailed her finger along the indents between his abdominal muscles. It tickled.

"I dreamt that you were Mary Cattermole and we were being chased by fiendfyre… it was a nightmare…"

"We saw a lot of bad things over the years, and anyway, yesterday was a terrible day."

He didn't want to talk about yesterday for the rest of his life. "You slept alright?"

"I sleep well any time you and I do what we did together last night. I think it's the hormones you make me release because… well..."

"What are hormones?"

"Er, nothing… it's just a muggle medicine thing. I'm not sure if healers study hormones… it'd be interesting to find out."

"Mm." He kissed Hermione's neck lightly. Her skin was soft was under his lips.

"It's Monday, we have to go to Charms class..."

"We have to wait until everyone goes to breakfast before you leave here anyway or everyone will know the Head Girl wasn't sleeping in her bed," Ron said, smirking at her.

"True," she said, raising her eyebrows.

He unbuttoned her shirt and let it fall open.

"Thank you, I was quite hot under these covers," she said and smiled. He smiled back at her and then kissed her neck again. "Mm, that feels so nice."

He started pulling at the waistband of her pajama bottoms and she helped him take them off of her. "I'm glad." He laughed quietly just because he was happy. Then, he moved his palm down over the soft skin of her belly and between her legs. "Does this feel nice too?"

"Mmhmm…"

* * *

"Don't get up yet, Harry," Ginny said quietly. Harry had woken only a minute or two before her and was sitting up in bed. He slid his glasses on his face.

"We have to go if we're going to eat breakfast before Charms," Harry said, but it made him happy to hear her say that. She reached over and grabbed his hand.

" _I must not tell lies_ ," she read on the back of his hand. "You still have the scar there."

"Yeah."

"It must have been pretty deep."

"It was." He looked down at her and wondered why she was bring it up. It was an odd stall tactic. "It's almost like a prison tattoo."

"Thanks, I guess."

Harry got up and, pulling his boxers on so he could cover himself, he walked into the adjoining bathroom. Once he pulled his boxers and glasses back off again, he stepped into a hot shower. He was surprised when Ginny followed him in a minute later.

"Hello again," he said, amused.

"Boxers do little to hide morning wood," Ginny said, and winked.

"Sorry, I was hoping you wouldn't notice that. It's just something that happens."

"So does that mean you don't want to have sex in the shower?" she said, smirking and dipping her head back under the water as she lathered her hands with soap.

"Er, I don't want to push my luck," he said carefully.

"Well consider yourself luckier than you realized," said Ginny. "I intend to make up for lost time."

"Does that mean you no longer wish I were dead?" Harry asked, attempting to make it sound like a joke. He stepped closer to her because he was getting cold. She stepped back so some of the water fell on him as well.

"I said that I wished you were dead?" Ginny asked, scrunching her nose. "When was that?"

"You actually forget saying that to me?" Harry asked, leaning back slightly to get a better look at her face. He wanted to put his glasses back on. She began slowly lathering his chest with her soapy palms.

"Oh, right," she said, but Harry thought she sounded like she still didn't remember. "I'm sorry."

"You were with Malfoy at the Slytherin table. It wasn't that long ago. I came over to talk to you." She was working her way over his shoulders and arms…

"Yeah, I remember," she said, nodding and attempting to grin. "I wasn't myself that day."

He kissed her cheek as he took the bar of soap from her and started lathering his own hands. Slowly, he ran his hands over her shoulders and then down to her breasts and kneaded them in his hands for a moment.

"Mmm," she said, closing her eyes. She slid her soapy hands around to his back and then down to his bottom and squeezed.

Leaning down then, he kissed her. She quickly responded, deepening their kiss. He turned her so she leaned back against the wall of the shower as he kissed her. Then, he ran his hands down over her chest, and stepping away, he bent down and ran his hands over her hips and down her thighs. There was something he'd always wanted to do to her…

Slowly, he brought one of his hands up her thigh again. The soap was all gone from his hands now but he was glad. He wouldn't need soap for this. Gently, he rubbed his hand over the curls at the apex of her thighs.

With a blurry glance up at her, he parted her and then nuzzled his nose into her curls.

"Harry," she said, half a question and half a warning. Her soapy hands found his hair.

"Mmm," he said. The smell that he so loved… the smell he'd noticed in Amortentia… it was _her_ …

And then he licked her. He knew he'd surprised her because she'd pulled away slightly.

"You taste as good as you smell," Harry said without thinking.

"I hope that's a good thing," she said. She ran her fingers through his soaking wet hair.

"It's amazing," he said. And he licked her again and again, swirling his tongue.

"This is like torture. Come back up here. I can barely stand up," she said, pulling Harry to his feet again.

"Here," he said, and he lifted her under her thighs with her back still against the wall. Reaching underneath her as she held on tightly to his neck, he buried himself into her.


	68. Smelly Frogs

After breakfast, Harry and Ginny walked to Charms class together.

"Oh, look, they're already here. They must have skipped breakfast," Harry said to Ginny. They'd been wondering where Ron and Hermione were.

Draco was sitting toward the back of the room, which was unusual for him. When Ginny and Harry walked in, Draco stood up.

"Ginny, may I have a word with you?" he asked, striding forward. He stepped between her and Harry, forcing them to let go of each other's hands. This annoyed Harry, but rather than interfere, he simply waited to see what she'd say to him.

"What is it?" she asked. She sounded kind, if a little impatient, which surprised Harry.

"Potter, will you leave us? I doubt Ginny would want you to hear what I have to say to her." Harry didn't think he'd ever heard him use such a polite tone. At least, not with him.

"Er," Harry said, looking to Ginny to see what she wanted him to do. To his dismay, she nodded.

"I'm sure it'll only be a minute. I think my dear brother wants to talk to you anyway," she said, lifting her chin in a gesture towards Ron, who was walking toward Harry.

"Alright," Harry said, reluctantly turning away as Ginny and Draco stepped out into the hallway.

* * *

"Please think of what you're doing," Draco said, holding onto Ginny's arm out of force of habit. She shook his hold off.

"I'm fine. Everything's fine."

"You're back with Harry then? Already?"

"You have a problem with that?"

"Do you know what the magical power of a life debt is?"

"Are you saying that you want to make sure I don't kill Harry out of some worry for your own life?" Ginny said, shaking her head.

Draco only stared at her for a moment. "Aren't you worried that you might kill him? It only takes two seconds for you to lapse."

"I went to his room last night but I was able to snap out of it."

"But lately, you've been losing time. Do you remember getting there?"

"Well…"

"You're being reckless. I thought you loved him? Is this the way you treat someone you love?" Draco said, grabbing hold of her shoulder.

"People are sitting down," Ginny said. "I think class is starting."

"You must tell him. I'll give you until the end of the day. I have no wish to burden you any further than you already are, but you must think of the potential consequences. If you don't tell him soon, I will tell him."

"Alright, fine. Just give me a chance. I meant to tell him last night, but… well…"

"I understand. You don't need to elaborate," he said, leading her back into the classroom while still holding onto her shoulder.

* * *

"Hi," Ron said, smiling at Harry.

"Hi," Harry said, half-smiling at Ron. Why was he smiling like that? Unless… "So did you forgive Hermione?" He peered around Ron and saw that Hermione was alone, sitting back in her chair with her legs crossed, a book propped up. She looked at ease.

"Yeah," Ron said. "Yeah, we more than made up. Wedding's back on."

"That's great," Harry said, smiling because Ron was smiling.

"We had sex twice this morning," Ron whispered. "As well as in the middle of the night last night… I think she wants to make things up to me, you know?"

"Oh," Harry said, unsure what to say. Should he mention how he slept with Ginny for the first time in months last night?

Ron leaned closer. "You seem different. Calmer."

"I'm glad I got to tell you everything. It was weighing on me," Harry said. It was true.

"Yeah, but I dunno, there's something else."

"I don't know what you mean."

"Did you get back together with my sister?"

"Er…" Harry wasn't sure what to say. He'd meant to ask Ginny if they were together or just messing around like before, but they were too busy this morning for much talk… And now she was out in the hallway with Draco…

"You are! Is she off of Malfoy though?" Ron said. Harry got the impression that it wouldn't be good if he'd caused Ginny to cheat as well.

Harry answered almost immediately, "Yes, she's broken things off with him. She didn't really like him that way I guess."

"Good. He's a tosser."

"You could say that."

"But why did she just go out the hallway with him?"

"He wanted a word with her," Harry said, raising an eyebrow.

Professor Flitwick was climbing up onto his stack of books, signaling that class would start.

Harry took his normal seat while Ron went up to sit with Hermione. Glancing over his shoulder as he sat down, he saw that Ginny and Draco were coming back in. Draco had his hand on her shoulder, but when Harry looked back, he dropped his hold. Draco took one last look at Ginny as he walked to his normal seat in the front of the class as she sat down next to Harry. Ginny seemed not to have noticed that Draco had been staring at her.

Without a word, she slid her hand into Harry's.

"Everything okay?" he whispered into her ear.

"I'll tell you after class," she said. And then, she pulled her wand from her pocket. "I want you to hold onto this. Only give it to me if I have to use it for class, alright?"

"Er, did Malfoy put you up to this?" Harry said, staring at her wand where it lay on the table in front of them.

"Just take it, I'll explain later," Ginny whispered.

"Mr. Potter? Perhaps you will demonstrate for the class since you find that my instruction isn't necessary for today," Professor Flitwick said, smiling at Harry, who was pocketing Ginny's wand.

Hermione and Ron were looking at him, as were a few of the other students in the class.

"Sorry, Professor," Harry said, standing. He glanced at Hermione and performed Legilimency with a slight flick of his wand.

Hermione was literally yelling at him in her head: _CRUARE INFESTO! FROGS ON DESK!_

Harry walked to the front of the classroom. He knew the spell he had to do but he didn't know what it would do…

The box in the front of the room had a bunch of frogs. They smelled so bad that Harry had to step back and turn his head.

Flitwick levitated a frog out of the box for Harry and lowered it down to the desk.

Silently, Harry flicked his wand at the frog, thinking _Cruare Infesto._ At first he thought nothing happened and almost performed the spell on the frog again. But then the white stripe on the back of the frog started to disappear.

"You've healed him," Flitwick squeaked. The frog started hopping around, whereas it hadn't been before.

Harry looked back at Hermione and smiled, mouthing "thanks" to her.

"Right, you may give everyone else a frog now, Mr. Potter. Without magic." Flitwick smiled. Harry looked up at him on his stack of books and smiled back.

"Alright, Professor," Harry said, actually finding this amusing. A few years ago he would have been utterly embarrassed because clearly this was a punishment to have to hand everyone a smelly frog…

"Would you like a smelly frog?" Harry asked Ron before setting one down in front of him. Ron sniggered. "A stinky frog for you…" he said to Hermione, who smiled, bemused. And then to Seamus, "Oh, yours is just oozing puss. Better not get that on your robes…" Seamus did not find this as funny… and all the way back the classroom until Ginny got the last one. "And I saved this one for you. He's not so stinky as the rest, I think."

"Thanks," Ginny said sarcastically.

Then, as everyone else started trying to heal their frogs, Harry realized that his hands smelled like sick frogs now. He _scourgified_ his hands twice.


	69. Sanguis Dolore

After class, Harry handed Ginny's wand back to her. She stared down at it in her laxed hand as though she didn't know what it was. "I have to teach for most of the rest of the day… I think you should probably hang onto this."

"I only ever really need it in Charms. You can keep it for me," said Ginny. Sliding her arm around him under his unfastened robe, she slid her wand into his back pocket of his jeans.

"But why?"

"Because I… I'll explain later. Anyway, I only have History of Magic left today and that's not until after lunch."

"You're taking the N.E.W.T. in History of Magic?" Harry asked, momentarily distracted. They started walking toward the stairs.

"Yeah, I need the newt if I want to work for the Daily Prophet as a journalist," she said, shrugging.

"You want to be a journalist?" Harry asked.

"I've always wanted to be a journalist. I've always loved to write."

"That's really interesting… I didn't know that."

"Really?" she said. "Well, I don't like telling people about it. I've only ever really talked about it with Mum." Ginny glanced over at him but looked away when Harry looked back at her. "I had always wanted a diary, and when I got one back in second year… it seemed like magic at first. Like someone was telling me to write. Little did I know _why_ they wanted me to write." She let out a dry laugh. "But I thought you might have figured it out at some point because of that. I don't know why."

"Well no, lots of girls write in diaries, don't they?"

"I suppose." She shook her head. "I've never met anyone else who likes to write like I do though. Mum used to have me write persuasive essays before I was in Hogwarts. One of them convinced Dad not to buy a muggle toaster."

Harry laughed. "Well, you'll meet some at the Prophet who enjoy writing, I would expect. I could put you in touch with Rita Skeeter if you want."

"I know you're joking, but actually she'd be a good connection to have."

"Well, yeah… I suppose. Depends on what sorts of connections you want." Harry shrugged.

"She's become respected in the past year mostly because of you. Didn't you realize?" Ginny said, studying his face. They reached the third floor landing and were heading down toward Harry's classroom.

"Has she?" Harry said, mildly surprised. Ginny nodded. "Sorry, so anyway, what was it that you were going to tell me?"

"Oh…" Ginny glanced around at the little first year students who were filing past Harry and her, into his classroom ahead. "Well, this is going to be hard to say."

"Okay." They stopped outside his doorway for a second. Ginny grabbed his arm and led him to the opposite side of the hallway so they wouldn't be so near to the students going to Harry's classroom.

"I…" Ginny started. Harry looked down into her eyes, which looked glassy. Was it just the lighting or was she trying not to cry? "I did something that I didn't mean to do. And now I can't take it back."

"Okay…" Inexplicably, Harry became afraid when she said this but he tried to hide it. He wanted to hear her out.

"I didn't know what I was doing at the time. I don't think _any_ of them knew… I only know because, well he picked _me_ and—"

"Malfoy you mean?" Harry asked, struggling to understand her.

"No," she said. "I… this is so hard to say… especially to you…" She seemed to relax a little as she touched his arm. And then, she pulled him into a hug, wrapping both arms around his torso and resting her head against his chest. As he hugged her back, Harry glanced behind him to see if any of his first years were watching, but thankfully they were all in the classroom already.

A moment later, when she didn't let go, he gently pulled away so he could see her face again.

"If Malfoy did anything to hurt you, even accidentally, I will _kill_ him," Harry said calmly. "Just say the word."

"Harry," Ginny said, shaking her head. And then it was unmistakable: her eyes flashed red as she glanced away from him.

Harry didn't have much time to be shocked though. Suddenly, she pulled him toward herself again and standing on tiptoes, with one of her hands in his hair and the other hooked around his neck, she kissed him hard. She pressed her body against his. He stumbled back a step.

Harry reacted immediately without thinking and kissed her back, but then he remembered his students and how they could be watching him… he pulled away from her again.

"Look, I have to go teach…" She kissed him again and he had to stop talking. Fighting against himself as much as her, he pulled away once more. "We can eat lunch together, alright? Tell me then," Harry said an kissed her forehead.

"I don't know if I'll make it until then," she said under her breath. Harry wasn't sure if he was supposed to have heard her.

"See you later, alright?" he said, kissing her cheek as he let go of her.

While in the middle of teaching his class of Gryffindor and Slytherin second years, Harry realized where he'd seen Ginny's pendant before. He stopped talking midsentence about the _Protego_ charm and stared down at his desk, shocked.

"Professor?" asked one of the Gryffindor girls timidly after Harry hadn't spoken for a minute. She sat toward the front of the room. "Are you alright?"

"Er, sorry," Harry said, still staring.

"Are you having a flashback?" It was one of the Gryffindor boys.

"No, no, I just realized something, that's all. No worries. Where was I?" He shook his head and pasted a smile on his face as he looked up at his frightened class. The girl who'd asked him if he was alright told him that he'd been talking about protective charms.

"Ah, yes," Harry said, nodding. "Right… well, let's have you pair up today with someone new and practice." He hadn't planned on this but he'd completely lost his train of thought.

By the time the period was over, he was actually one of the first to leave the classroom. He hurried to find Ginny in the Great Hall, and was disappointed to find her talking to Draco again. He stopped where he was (in the doorway of the Great Hall) and watched them for a moment. They were standing toward the corner of the room, a few feet away from the end of the Slytherin table.

She shook her head. Her back was to Harry so he wasn't sure if she was talking or what her facial expression was. Draco shook his head back as he said something in her ear. She shoved his shoulder, but then he grabbed both of her arms and held her for a second, saying something in her face. Harry couldn't stand it anymore. He walked over and shoved Malfoy, breaking his grasp on Ginny.

"I don't know what your problem is Malfoy, but Ginny said she's had enough of you, so leave her alone," Harry said between his teeth.

"Harry…" Ginny said warningly.

"You want to tell him now? I can tell him for you if you like," Draco said, anger obvious in his voice. Hermione's fear before—that Ginny might have accidentally gotten pregnant too—drifted through Harry's head, but he quickly pushed the thought away.

Ginny shook her head. "You're not helping anything," she said to Draco.

"All I've done this whole time is try to help you," Draco spat back. His old familiar sneer found its way to his face.

What happened next took less than three seconds total: Harry stepped in front of Ginny, trying to separate the two of them further. But as he stepped forward, Harry saw Draco's eyes widened a fraction. When he saw this, he cast a _Protego_ shield. Before he had fully produced the magical shield though, Draco pushed Harry away toward the wall. Meanwhile, Ginny had pulled her wand from Harry's pocket as he stepped in front of her. She was lifting it to point it at Harry's back when Draco pushed him out of the way. So when Ginny cast a spell, it rebounded off of Harry's protective shield, protecting Draco from Ginny.

Ginny was thrown to the floor when she was hit with her own spell while at the same time, Draco was bracing for the impact of a spell that would never hit him and Harry was pushing himself away from the wall he'd just been pushed into.

Immediately, Harry took away his protective shield and knelt next to her on the floor.

"It wasn't a Killing Curse or it wouldn't have rebounded," Draco said, kneeling next to him. He shot silver sparks at Ginny. "She's breathing."

"Why would it have been a Killing Curse?!" Harry asked, trying not to panic.

"Because she has been trying not to kill you for the better part of the year, Potter," Draco said under his breath as they were quickly becoming swarmed with other students, all wondering what happened to Ginny.

" _Mobilicorpus!_ " Harry shouted because he wanted to shout something. He couldn't think. What did Draco mean? Trying not to kill him? Was he just trying to make him mad?

Ginny floated into the air and Harry stepped forward, lifting her under her knees and supporting her shoulders in his arms so he could protect her from getting bumped. The gathering crowd parted and he strode out of the Great Hall toward the marble stairs.

He was vaguely aware that Draco was following him. Glancing back, he saw that Ron and Hermione were following too, as were Neville and Luna.

Draco caught up with him. He spoke quietly, preventing the others following them from hearing him. "It was probably that spell that Dolohov liked so much… it's a powerful curse… I can't think of any others that would make her fall unconscious like that without becoming stiff or obviously bleeding-"

"The one he used on Hermione in the Department of Mysteries?" Harry asked in spite of himself.

"I don't know," Draco said breathlessly. They ran up another flight of stairs before Draco spoke again. " _Sanguis Dolore_. That's what it is. The spell of slowly bleeding to death internally. I feel sure. There really couldn't be another spell that would do this. At least, none come to mind."

"There's no way. Where would she have learned something so dark?" Harry said, breathing hard. "Unless you taught her."

"No I didn't. She knew it because, well," Draco said, swallowing hard between shallow breaths. They reached the landing on the fourth floor near the hospital wing. "It wasn't her doing it."


	70. A Black Curse

Later, Madam Pomfrey performed a few spells on Ginny and assured everyone—including Mr. Weasley (who Harry had nearly forgotten was teaching Muggle Studies now and had witnessed the accident in the Great Hall) that she would eventually be alright.

Then, Mr. Weasley, Ron, Hermione, Neville and Luna left to go to their afternoon classes. Harry had to leave to teach his second class of second years and so Draco said he'd stay at her bedside. This annoyed Harry but then Draco said he'd come and get him if there was any news.

After teaching his class in a sort of daze, Harry came back to the hospital wing and found Draco there at her side. He was leaning forward on his chair, his elbows on his knees and his hands folded. He almost looked like he was praying.

Harry walked slowly forward. Neville had already told him that he could skip his Independent Study tonight, so he was planning on being here all night or until Madam Pomfrey kicked him out. He didn't want to miss Ginny possibly waking up.

"So," Harry said as he drew nearer to Draco and Ginny. "She's still unconscious."

"Yes." He stood and stretched. "You should be safe for at least the night I'd expect." Harry wondered at what Draco meant by this but then Draco continued, "Pomfrey said she probably won't wake for at least two days if I'm right about that spell. And then she'll have to take potions for probably weeks in order to heal fully."

"Yeah, that's how it was when Hermione got hit with it."

"She's lucky she didn't die, you know," Draco said flatly. Harry didn't say anything as Draco looked him over. "I should tell you," he said, seeming to decide something. Then, Harry saw something on Draco's face that he never thought he'd see: his eyebrows relaxed and then furrowed as Draco frowned. He felt sorry for Harry. "Come on, step out into the hall with me."

Harry followed him without a word and only glanced back briefly at Ginny's unmoving form before walking through the doorway. They walked down the hall a bit. Draco checked down the turn in the hall but there was no one there.

"Right, so…" Draco said, looking at the floor as though he were trying to put a puzzle together in his head.

"Am I about to find out what she couldn't tell me earlier today?"

Draco studied at Harry for a moment before he spoke. "Ginny is possessed by the raised spirit of Voldemort."

"What?" Harry said flatly.

Draco ignored him and plowed on. "He has slowly taken her body over since Halloween. It's been especially bad since probably around Christmas. She has had seconds, sometimes minutes of possession already where the only thing I can do to draw her out of it is hold her and hit her with calming spells until he can't control her any longer. I have hardly been able to let her more than an arm's breath from me for fear Voldemort would gain control of her body and use her to kill you. She's maintained control only through a combination of bodily contact with me, calming charms and sleeping potions."

"That's not funny," Harry said flatly. He glanced back over his shoulder, wanting to go back to Ginny's side.

"No, it's not."

"Are you serious?" Harry said, not sure what to believe.

"Very serious. As the grave."

"Wait," Harry said, realization dawning. "Did this happen on Halloween?"

"Yes," Draco said, "the memorial at midnight in the Forbidden Forest. Neither of us realized what was happening before it was too late."

"I was set a task by the Auror department to find out about this," Harry said, grabbing a handful of the messiest part of his hair. "They want me to find out why a dark magic sensor keeps going off. It went off on Christmas in..."

"Near the Burrow?" Draco said.

Harry started pacing, trying not to panic.

"Look, you can't tell them anything," Draco said, watching Harry pace. "I don't care if you get me chucked in Azkaban for helping raise a spirit from the other side of the veil. I'm sure I deserve it. But if I go, there's no way she will survive this. We've done all the research we could. The only way to properly get rid of a possessed spirit is to kill the host body. That's what the Ministry will do. They'll kill her, do you understand?"

"How do you know this?" Harry asked. He felt like he needed to do something but there wasn't anything that he could do.

"Books from the darkest section of my family's library at home. There's no point in even trying to ask Granger about this, though believe me I had thought about asking her, especially on Ginny's bad days."

"So what is there to be done?" Harry asked, crossing his arms over his chest though his wand was still in his hand.

"We didn't try very hard at transferring him to a different person," Draco said, shrugging. "Or we could try to draw him out with other means. I had this idea that maybe a Dementor could suck him out…"

"I'm not willing to try that. Would you want to risk that on yourself?" Harry asked, appalled. "Anyway is it really a soul that's in her? His soul was so fractured… there's no way she's possessed by a soul…"

"Why do you think we hadn't tried it yet?" Draco said through clenched teeth. "I've been grasping at straws."

"Why didn't you tell me this sooner?" Harry said, anger rising in his chest. "It's been what? Nearly half a year since this happened?"

"I was hoping you would figure it out. You normally figure out this sort of thing annoyingly quickly. Ginny didn't want to tell you and I didn't want to risk making her angry. Her eyes flash red when she's angry. It helps him take more of her away. I don't know if you've noticed that yet."

"Yeah, I thought it was a trick of the light," Harry said, barely above a whisper. Both boys turned at the sounds of someone walking within the hospital wing. It was Madam Pomfrey. Harry watched as she bent over Ginny and then waved her wand a few inches over top of Ginny's form.

Quietly, Harry walked back toward Ginny and Draco followed.

"What do you think is wrong with her?" Harry asked in a careful voice as he came near.

"I'm not quite sure," Madam Pomfrey said without looking up from Ginny. "I know she hit herself with the spell, probably _Sanguis Dolore_ , as Mr. Malfoy guessed. Also, I've had a positive diagnosis that she's been hit with such a spell, and I stopped the bleeding for now... But there's something else wrong." She shook her head. "Something dark is within her. It's almost like she was poisoned but none of my antidotes have had any effect." She finally looked up at Harry and Draco. "I will be transferring her to Saint Mungo's in the morning once the spell she hit herself with has worn off enough that she is safer for sidelong Apparition."

"Is it really necessary to take her there?" Draco asked at once.

Madam Pomfrey ignored him. "Do you know if she's been doing any dabbling in the Dark Arts by chance? Even reading some of the books in the Restricted Section can do things… Sometimes there are mishaps." She stood with her wand held in both of her hands as she glanced between the two boys.

"Well… she'd been torn up about Harry breaking up with her a few months ago. She hadn't been eating," Draco said, "Perhaps it's simply heartbreak?"

"Oh?" Madam Pomfrey said, raising her eyebrows at Harry. In the few sessions that he'd had with the nurse for his PMTD, he'd told her that Ginny had broken up with him, not the other way around. But she couldn't say this in front of Draco, nor could Draco have guessed how much Madam Pomfrey knew about Harry's personal life.

"Well, yes," Draco said, but he seemed to have realized that lying may have been a misstep. "At least, that's what she told me." He glanced at Harry who stared back at him. "I'll be off then. I have a class to attend."

He turned and left. Madam Pomfrey waited until he was through the door before she rounded on Harry. "Well, what is it really? Is this some sort of broken heart problem, or something else?"

"I don't know."

"You were with her last night, and even this morning, were you not?" Madam Pomfrey asked, crossing her arms over her chest. Harry stared, dumbfounded. Was she performing Legilimency? Some form of Divination?

"Each witch or wizard leaves magical traces on each other after such acts, Potter. My quill charts what my wand picks up on a full body scan. I can't help but know such private information."

Harry was screaming at her in his head: _Then how do you not know she's possessed by Voldemort right now?!_ Instead, he very calmly said, "Yes, she and I were together." Madam Pomfrey waited for him to continue speaking but he didn't.

"And, alright… I'll be totally frank with you even if you won't be with me. My chart says that she's got a black curse on her and it's poisoned her heart already. It's spreading to the rest of her body. I've slowed it, but it's only a matter of time until the curse breaks through my charm and will continue to poison her. Most dark magic can't be picked up on very clearly with a diagnosing charm. In short, by its very nature, dark magic wishes to remain elusive. I will need you to tell me if you did any dark magic with, or on, Miss Weasley so I can save her. You may trust that I will remain as discrete as is possible if it was something illegal, alright?"

Harry weighed this in his head. "There's nothing that I did to or with Ginny that would fall under the category of 'dark magic'." Harry said finally. "But you already knew that, I think."

"Yes, Mr. Potter… I suppose I am asking the wrong person this question."

"Yeah, maybe you are," Harry said, trying to keep his voice and face passive. Madam Pomfrey patted his arm a few times and then turned back to her office and disappeared inside.

Harry slowly moved to Ginny's bedside and sat down where Draco had previously been sitting. He didn't know what to do. He wanted to pick Ginny up and take her away from here at that very moment before anyone figured out what was really wrong with her and she was legally murdered…

As he sat, he began to attempt to form a plan.


	71. The Plan

It wasn't long before Ron snuck back into the hospital wing and joined Harry in his silent vigil at Ginny's bedside. Harry merely looked up when he entered. Ron gave a half-smile before sitting down at the end of Ginny's bed.

Later, after the end of the eighth period of the day, their silence was interrupted when Hermione came straight from Ancient Runes, her bag still slung over her shoulder and laden with books.

"Has she stirred at all?" Hermione asked, letting her bag slide from her shoulder and dropping it at Ginny's bedside with a dull thud.

"No," said Harry. "But… well, there's a reason for that… Draco told me—" but then Harry stopped talking when he saw that Neville and Luna were coming in to visit as well. "Tell you later," Harry said quickly.

"Is it alright if we visit a bit?" Neville asked quietly as they came nearer. He spoke as though they were at the bedside of a dying person. Bitterly, Harry thought that perhaps this wasn't so far off…

"Sure," said Ron.

Harry had a sudden sense of panic: he was no closer to coming up with a plan to help Ginny than he had been two hours ago. And he knew if he waited until tomorrow to try to help her, it would be too late. She'd be in St. Mungo's by then and the healers would surely pick up on a possession faster than Madam Pomfrey…

Hermione stepped back as Luna sat down on the bed near Ginny's hip. Then, she took Ginny's hand in hers. Harry watched as Luna then gently placed Ginny's hand against her cheek and leaned into Ginny's unknowing touch.

And Harry realized… of course… what Draco had said… they needed to keep constant contact with Ginny to keep the spirit from taking her over.

Why Ginny had physically clung to Draco for the past months suddenly made sense. He'd said she'd maintained control " _only through a combination of bodily contact with me, calming charms and sleeping potions"_ …

"Luna?" Harry asked gently, moving from the chair to Ginny's other side and kneeling down on the floor. "What are you doing?"

"I'm not quite sure," Luna said, turning and gazing with her protuberant eyes upon Harry. "I just felt like Ginny wanted me to touch her. So I did. And it calmed her down. Can't you feel it?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah, I think I do." He glanced back at Ron and saw that he was exchanging a glance with Hermione. "Listen," Harry said, standing up. He looked at his friends: Luna, Hermione, Neville and Ron all were looking back at him. "There's something I need to tell you. I need your help."

Harry didn't say anything for a moment, not sure where to start. "We're listening, mate," Neville said, taking a step closer toward the bed.

"Right, well…" Harry started. He cast _muffilato_ toward Madam Pomfrey's chambers. "Ginny's in a lot of trouble. She could die. In fact, if we don't do something soon, she could be dead as soon as tomorrow."

Ron stood up at this, his face pale. "How do you know—"

Harry cut him off. "It's not the spell she hit herself with. It's the fact that she's possessed with Voldemort's raised spirit."

"What?" Hermione ask sharply while at the same time, Ron said, "You can't be serious."

"It was an accident, I'm sure," Harry said, "In any case, Madam Pomfrey is having her transferred to Saint Mungo's tomorrow to be checked over further. She found something dark but she doesn't know what it is yet. She's only waiting until tomorrow so she can be sure that Ginny's stable enough to move after getting hit with that curse. The Ministry method for getting rid of any raised spirit is killing the host witch or wizard so the spirit is sent back to the other side. I doubt…" Harry swallowed hard. "I doubt they'd hesitate to… well, it's Voldemort…"

No one said anything for a moment. Luna still had Ginny's hand against her face.

"Anyone have any ideas?" Harry asked, crossing his arms over his chest. Footsteps could be heard at the doorway then. Harry looked over.

It was Draco, who ignored everyone but Harry. "Can we have a word, Potter? Quickly, please."

"They all know," Harry said, "I told them just now."

Draco looked even paler than usual at hearing this. "You told them?" he said, barely moving his lips.

"What does Malfoy have to do with this?" Ron asked quickly. "Did he do this to her?"

"Come over here," Harry said to Draco as he glanced at Ron. "You can tell me whatever it is you need to say over here."

Draco shot a (second) _muffilato_ charm toward Madam Pomfrey's door. "I simply wanted to urge you toward helping me remove Ginevra from the school before tomorrow."

"And then what? You'd be on the run with her and she'd turn into Voldemort eventually," Ron said, clearly fighting to keep his voice down.

"Have you got a better plan, Weasley?" Draco said, throwing his hands in the air. "There isn't any way to get him out. Believe me, I've read about a dozen books—"

"Hermione," Ron said, turning around to face her. "Isn't there anything? What about Ancient Runes? Or Arithmancy—"

"I, well, there are Runes that you can draw to keep spirits from leaving or entering a place. Hogwarts has them on most of the lintels of the doors, but… erm, Arithmancy wouldn't help at all—"

"Well, is it that she's inside Hogwarts and the Runes might be keeping him-" Ron started, but Draco cut him off.

"We went to Hogsmeade and we were gone for Christmas. Leaving didn't have any effect," Draco said quietly.

"How long has she been possessed?" Neville asked, surprised. "I thought maybe this had only been a day or two."

"It's been almost a half a year," Harry said.

"Wow, and she's still not fully possessed?" Hermione said.

"How do you know whether that's a long or a short period of time to be taken over by a spirit?" Ron asked looking to Hermione.

Hermione glanced at Draco. "Well, I did read a book from the Restricted Section, and erm… I'd heard mention of Necromancy at one point a few months ago…" Harry knew she was referring to when he'd told her that he'd followed Draco and Ginny under the Invisibility Cloak and eavesdropped on them. "Anyway," she continued, "I found mention of the fact that full possession normally takes about a fortnight. I remember the specific mention because I was annoyed that they didn't have a precise number of days…"

It was quiet for a few seconds before Luna spoke. "It's obvious isn't it?" she said quietly without turning to face them.

"What is?" Draco asked impatiently.

"We have to do an exorcism," she said as she ran her hand down Ginny's hair, smoothing it.

"That's a real thing?" Harry asked.

"Yes, well, exorcisms and things are best done on Halloween because that's when the Veil is at its thinnest," Luna said. She turned a bit to face Harry while still holding onto Ginny's hand. "But maybe… I suppose if we went to the Veil in the Department of Mysteries perhaps that would help?"

Harry considered this.

Hermione said quietly, "But exorcisms aren't really… they're just an old witches' tale…"

"How do you perform an exorcism?" Draco asked, arching an eyebrow and ignoring Hermione. Harry glanced at him and then looked back to Luna.

"Well, I've never actually done one," Luna said, "But I know the basics. It's all written down in my mother's book of spells at home."

"Would she mind if we borrowed it?" asked Draco. Harry, Hermione, Neville and Ron all looked at him at the same time.

"No, I don't think she'd mind at all," Luna said without missing a beat.

"Right, so the plan is to kidnap Ginny without anyone noticing, while she's unconscious, stop off at Luna's dad's house to pick up a book and then all go to the Veil in the Department of Mysteries," Ron said calmly, "On a Monday evening."

"Got a better idea?" Harry asked.

"No," Ron said, laughing. "So, have you got the Invisibility Cloak on you?"

"We'll need salt," said Luna. "And some herbs…"

"Okay," said Harry. "Neville, can you take care of whatever herbs and things we need?"

"Of course," Neville said.

"Luna, you go with Neville too. Then you two can head to your dad's house to get the book," Harry said, "Hermione, will you go with them for added security?"

"Alright," she said, nodding.

"Draco and Ron, you two stay with Ginny for a moment while I'm getting the Invisibility Cloak and the map. And deal with Madam Pomfrey. Hit her with a sleeping spell or something so she doesn't raise any alarms. Then we'll take Ginny straight to the Department of Mysteries—"

But as he said this, Draco asked, "What map?" while Ron asked, "Wait, he's coming too?" and Hermione said, "Oh, maybe I should stay with you so I can deal with Madam Pomfrey?"

"No, Hermione, I'd feel better knowing you're with them," Harry said at once. "Yes, Ron, Malfoy is coming too. He's part of the reason she's lasted this long… and…" Harry looked at Draco and shook his head. "You'll see in a minute."

Harry glanced around at all of them. They varied from calm (Ron) and indifferent (Luna), to nervous (Draco), to determined (Hermione) and brave (Neville).

Harry half-smiled. "Alright, then. Let's go."


	72. Mysteries Revisited

"I remember that there are ten of them…" said Luna, looking at the shelves of stores in Neville's storage closet. The three of them stood in the twilit greenhouse. It was dark enough that Hermione lit her wand tip. But because all three of them were now holding large canning jars full of herbs, Hermione had been forced to tuck her wand behind her ear. Neville and Luna had both done the same.

"So we have clove for force and orris and hawthorne, each for their protective properties," said Hermione, holding up the three bottles in her arms.

"And angelica…" Neville said, looking down at the bottles he was holding in his arms. "Bay… asafetida… geranium…"

"And I've got the betony and camphor… there's just one more," Luna said, as she skimmed over the labels in front of her. "It's like a wand wood I think. I'm having a hard time remembering. It's been quite a while."

"Vine?" Hermione asked.

"No…" answered Luna, still slowly reading.

"Holly?"

"No…"

"Ash?"

"No…"

"Cherry?"

"No… You know, I think I'm less likely to remember if you keep naming all the different types of wood."

Hermione fell silent.

But then Neville asked, "Elder?" He was standing in front of the 'E' section and had just spotted it.

"Oh, yes, that's it," Luna said calmly. She picked it up and tucked it under her arm.

Then, they quickly walked out to the closest greenhouse workbench and set the jars down. Luna took some of each of the herbs and stuffed them all into one of the burlap sacks that were normally used for storing seeds.

After hurrying down the twilit grounds of Hogwarts, they Apparated away to Luna's house from the front gate.

* * *

Harry re-entered the Hospital Wing with his Invisibility Cloak slung over one arm and the Marauder's Map folded into the back pocket of his jeans. As he neared Ginny's bedside, he nearly tripped when he saw that Madam Pomfrey was lying on the floor, flat on her back.

"Did you stun her? Why is she on the floor?" he yelled in a whisper. He immediately levitated her and magically carried her back toward her private chambers. Draco and Ron followed him.

"We hadn't discussed who would hit her with the spell, so we both did," Draco explained.

And then Ron elaborated, "At the same time." Harry shook his head as he led Madam Pomfrey's unconscious body through what appeared to be a sort of study and then through a kitchen and living room and finally found a bedroom. He lowered her onto a neatly made bed in a plain, drab sort of bedroom. The three boys gazed down at her.

"Obliviate her," Ron suggested to Harry.

"I'm not very good at that one," Harry admitted.

Ron nodded. "Well, I've never even tried it."

"I unfortunately have a bit of practice at that one," Draco said. Before Harry's mind had a chance to wonder, Draco continued, "Things I did last year… it's nothing I'm proud of..."

Harry and Ron said nothing while Draco pulled out his wand. Then, silently, he Obliviated her.

* * *

Since Luna's father hadn't been home, Neville, Hermione and Luna were able to get the book rather quickly, as well as a salt shaker full of salt from the kitchen area and leave the house undisturbed otherwise. The three then Apparated to the phone booth entrance to the Ministry of Magic. They had to wait a few minutes while six witches all piled out of the phone booth and then Disapparated before Hermione, Luna and Neville could enter.

"I wonder if they'll have beat us here," Neville wondered aloud, the burlap sack slung over his shoulder.

"We'll find out soon," Hermione said as she dialed.

Luna had the book tucked under her arm. "I wonder if there's anything else we needed," she said, staring up at the ceiling of the little booth.

"Really?" Hermione said, a little sharper than she'd intended.

"Well, check the book," Neville said gently.

"Oh, good idea," Luna said as they descended into the Ministry.

* * *

Under the cover of the Invisibility Cloak, Harry carried Ginny in his arms. He made her magically weightless with _Mobilicorpus._

Draco and Ron walked ahead of him. Ron had the Marauder's Map so they could try to avoid as many people as possible.

They made it down to the Entrance Hall before passing by anyone.

"Ron, what are you doing with Malfoy?" Seamus called from behind them. He'd been standing talking to a sixth year girl named Astoria. Ron and Draco had been hoping that he wouldn't notice them.

Draco and Ron both stopped and turned, facing Harry and Ginny (though they were invisible). "You're not going to fight him, are you?" Seamus was coming closer.

"No, we're just, er, having a chat," Ron said, glancing over at Draco.

Meanwhile, Draco muttered, "Get down, Potter." Harry knelt down, laying his arms on the floor and holding Ginny close so the Cloak still covered her completely.

Seamus was coming closer still. Then, as he was nearly at Harry's back, Draco shot out a silent _Confundus_ charm, aiming high so as to avoid Harry and Ginny. Seamus looked confused.

"See you later," Ron said, turning away from Seamus. Then, the three boys continued with Ginny out of the front double doors.

* * *

Hermione, Neville and Luna got to the lifts easily enough. Once they got on, they rode down a few floors before anyone else got on with them.

A witch with a long, crooked nose which she covered partially with half-moon spectacles stepped on. It was only a few seconds after the grate shut that she turned and cleared her throat. "Are you… forgive me, are you Hermione Granger? I recognize you from the papers… And you're even wearing Gryffindor robes…"

Hermione looked at her and smiled. "You know, I get that all the time. Ha, ha!"

"You're… you're not her?" she said, smiling politely, "Why are you wearing Gryffindor robes?" And then she glanced up at Neville. "You look familiar too…" She wagged her finger at him.

"He's an underwear model," Luna said matter-of-factly. "You might have seen him in the muggle magazines."

"Oh," the witch said, blushing and looking away. She got off at the next floor.

As soon as the grate slammed shut, Hermione and Neville burst out laughing. Luna smiled as she watched them laugh.

But as they rode down the last three levels, they both quickly quieted. The lift seemed to rattle even louder than usual because of the silence surrounding it.

"The Department of Mysteries," said the cool voice overhead.

Hermione, Neville and Luna got off. The lift rode back up without them.

"Should we wait for them here?" Neville asked, glancing between the two girls.

"They could already be waiting for us in the, erm, death room," Hermione said. But then, another lift rattled its way down and the grate slid loudly open. Ron got off, his wand out and hanging in his hand at his side. Draco followed and then Harry pulled off the Invisibility Cloak while Ginny hovered in the air, still unconscious.

Everyone waited while Harry shoved the Invisibility Cloak into the pocket of his robe.

"Well, who remembers which door we're supposed to pick?" Harry asked, walking forward as he held Ginny in his arms again. "I surely don't."


	73. The Veil

Together, the group headed forward toward the black door. Hermione, who was at the front of the group, opened it.

"I won't shut it this time," Neville said. He kept a hand on the door to the hallway so he could be sure to keep it open as everyone else continued through.

"I feel it necessary to remind you… I wasn't here with you for that whole business with the Prophecy," Draco said quietly as they entered the room with all the identical dark doors surrounding them.

"Oh right," said Ron, "That was your dad. Easy mistake to make."

"Ron," Hermione said warningly.

"What?" he asked, trying the nearest door. "This is the one that is sealed shut. _Flagrate._ " He painted a red "X" over the door.

Hermione tried a door and it opened. "Oh, the one where the time turners were. Pity… Though, it looks like they're working on making a new one…" She nearly started walking into the room.

"That's not why we're here," Harry said, not unkindly.

"Right. Sorry," Hermione said. She shut the door and everyone stood motionless for a moment, waiting for the room to spin. But with Neville standing guard with the door to the hallway still open, the room didn't move.

Then Luna said, "The brain room." And another red "X" went over a door.

Finally, Draco opened a door. "Is this it?" he asked over his shoulder. Ron stepped forward first as he was closest. But everyone else, even Neville, walked forward after a few seconds too.

"Yes," Ron answered quietly. "This is it."

Everyone stood behind Harry as he laid Ginny down on the stone dias, a few feet away from the Veil. Then, Luna took the bag of herbs from Neville and knelt down next to Harry in front of Ginny.

Wordlessly, Luna began arranging the herbs around Ginny until she looked like she was laying in a bed of green. It smelled quite strong. Meanwhile, Hermione drew protective runes with her wand around the edge of the dias.

"Well, it looks pretty anyway," Hermione said once she'd finished and Luna was finished a few minutes later. Then, Luna took the salt shaker out of her bag, unscrewed the top and then wordlessly, she magically drew a line of salt around Ginny and the herbs.

"Okay, we're ready I think," said Luna. "Everyone gather around her but don't go between her and the Veil."

Harry knelt down at Ginny's head and Draco knelt next to him, at Ginny's shoulder. Then Luna was at Ginny's arm as she hadn't gotten up from her spot where she'd arranged the salt and herbs. Neville knelt on Luna's other side. Hermione knelt down next to him and finally, Ron knelt down at his sister's feet.

Luna opened the book and laid it down between her and Draco. As she read, it was quiet for a moment and Harry could hear the voices whispering then from the other side. The longer they knelt there, the louder that the voices grew.

 _Harrryyyyy…._

"Oh, actually, I think we're supposed to be in a specific order. It says here, lover at the head, family at the foot, and friends in between… well, I suppose we've done that," Luna said looking up and gazing around. "I can hear my Mum, I think." She looked up at the Veil, straight ahead of her.

"Luna, try to stay on task," Harry said gently. "I know it's hard."

"Yes, but she's telling me something… she's saying…"

 _The stone the stone the stone the stone…_

"The stone?" Draco asked. "They're telling me too."

"The Resurrection Stone," Harry said immediately. He leaned down and with light fingers, he pulled the necklace out from where it was tucked into her collar.

As he touched her, he saw Ginny's eyes flicker open. And then, she looked around, her eyes wide with fright.

"Ginny," Harry whispered. He slid over between her and the Veil so he was kneeling at her side. She looked over at him. "Gin, it's alright. You're alright. We're trying to save you."

"Ah," she said and took a sharp intake of breath as she shut her eyes tight, "He knows… Harry, he knows…" she wrapped her arms around herself and began to shiver.

"Please, just let me die," she whispered, "It hurts so much. I feel like my heart is tearing…" But then her voice shifted oddly and she sounded like Voldemort, "Harry Potter."

Lunging up, Ginny grabbed hold of Harry's neck and began strangling him. She pushed him down to the ground, rolling over the herbs… And they were inches away from the threshold of the Veil. Harry felt warm air rushing over him as though the Veil was trying to welcome him into it as he struggled to breathe, struggled to push her off of him…

And just as his vision started to go black, he felt himself magically zap Ginny's hands away from him. She screamed and someone was there, wrestling her back down. Another flash of light and Ginny went limp. Draco lowered her to the floor once more to her bed of herbs.

Harry laid next to her, flat on his back, coughing hard as his brain flooded with oxygen once more. He looked over at her and saw that though her eyes were shut, she was shivering again.

"Harry, get away from the Veil. Get back to where you were," Hermione said, fear obvious in her voice. At her words, Harry dragged himself back to Ginny's head though he didn't take his eyes off of her. He didn't care at all that he'd almost been strangled to death. His only concern was for her.

"Come on Luna," Ron said in a shaky voice. "What do we do now?"

"We all join hands," she said quietly. "Harry and Ron, maybe you just can hold your hands out toward the stone arch of the Veil, alright?" Everyone joined hands and Harry and Ron did as she asked.

And then Luna cleared her throat.

Harry was stunned into calmness: Luna began singing an Ancient Song in a voice that was pure and beautiful. It was as though she were part of an ancient Celtic clan instead of a modern day school girl.

Staring down at Ginny, Harry watched as she stopped shaking and her arms rested down at her sides. Her hair caught a breeze that wasn't there before and danced around her head. Harry felt the breeze too—it moved his robes. Luna and Hermione's hair danced in the breeze too.

All the while, Luna continued singing.

The breeze turned into a sharp wind and it whipped faster and faster around them. Oddly, Harry noticed as he was forced to bend against the wind, the herbs and salt remained unmoved.

Harry heard high pitched screaming. He wasn't sure if it was coming from the Veil or Ginny or perhaps both. But he was barely able to keep his eyes open because the wind stung so badly…

But then Harry saw the Resurrection Stone turn itself over in the wind three times…

Harry looked up, squinting into the wind. Though he didn't feel it, his mother was holding his hand that he had outstretched to the arch of the Veil. James held Lily's hand, and he held Sirius's hand on his other side, and then Remus, and a woman was there that Harry thought must be Luna's mother, and then there was Fred holding Ron's outstretched hand on the end. They formed a small curve as they knelt along Ginny's side, just on this side of the Veil.

And the wind stopped suddenly as Luna stopped singing. No one dropped hands yet.

Harry didn't know what to say. Had his parents, Sirius, Remus, Fred and Luna's mother—had they summoned themselves here? How did it happen?

He looked from face to face and smiled back at them through his tears. He glanced over—Luna was staring at her mother, tears falling fast down her face. Ron was looking over at Fred, his face red as he cried.

Ginny lay unmoving on the cold ground, her long red hair laid out in wind-whipped locks over the herbs.

"Did it work?" Draco whispered, gazing down at her. "Ginny?" He dropped Harry's hand and shook her shoulder. She didn't open her eyes, but only a few seconds passed and then, Ginny arched her back once more and screamed in pain.

Harry froze, watching her. All he wanted to do was hold her. No one should ever have to scream like that…

And then, Ginny relaxed, breathing hard. Harry watched as a black smoke rose up from her chest. It floated up behind Harry, and behind Sirius and Remus. Then, it wove into the flickering, ephemeral fabric hanging from the archway. Voldemort's spirit became a part of the Veil itself.

"We did it," Luna said, smiling across at her mother.

"I'm so proud of you, my beautiful, darling girl," she said, smiling back at Luna. Then, she stood, turned and walked back through the veil and disappeared.

Fred was saying something to Ron, but Harry couldn't hear from here.

He felt rushed suddenly. He didn't want his parents, Sirius and Remus to disappear before he got to say something to them. But what was there to say?

"You're doing beautifully," Sirius said, winking, "Keep following your heart, Harry."

"And don't be afraid to live the life you want to lead," Remus said, smiling. Then he and Sirius turned and disappeared back through the Veil.

James laid a hand on Lily's shoulder and said, "We're proud of you, Harry. You've grown into a better man than we could have ever hoped."

"Thanks." Harry tried to smile but he didn't quite manage it.

"We love you more than life," Lily said, smiling.

"I love you too, Mum… Dad…" Harry said, unable to hold back his tears. She stared at him for a moment longer, seeming to drink in every detail of his face. And then James led her by her hand back through the Veil.

When he looked around, Harry saw that Fred had also gone. Ron was crying into Hermione's neck as she held him in her arms. Likewise, Luna was crying into Neville's chest.

"Want a hug, Potter?" Draco asked, raising an eyebrow. Something in the way he said it made Harry think he was actually serious.

"Shut up, Malfoy," Harry said and gazed down at Ginny. She was breathing the slow, even rhythm of peaceful sleep.

"Ginny told me she loves you, you know," Draco said. "Did she ever tell you?"

"No," Harry said shortly. He wondered if Draco was just trying to cheer him up… it was sort of working…

"Yes, I didn't think she would," Draco said. He stood up and with a wave of his wand, he got rid of the salt and the herbs. Then, walking slowly around the edge of the dias, he got rid of Hermione's runes. Harry stayed with Ginny, though he kept watching Draco for a moment until he couldn't see him because the Veil was too much in the way.

Ron was wiping his eyes and Hermione kissed him. Harry looked down at Ginny again because he didn't want to intrude on their privacy… and he was glad that he did. Ginny was stirring.

Harry slid back over to her side and lifted her up with magic but then supported her in his arms.

"Thanks, the ground's quite cold," she whispered.

"You're welcome." And with her held tightly to himself, Harry climbed down from the dias and then began walking up the amphitheater-like steps toward the door. He knew the others would eventually follow.

"I'm sorry he—I—tried to strangle you—I couldn't stop him."

"Quite alright," Harry said, smiling at her. He lifted her toward his face a bit and kissed her forehead. Slowly, she lifted her arms so she was holding onto Harry's neck and then rested her head against his chest.

They didn't talk the rest of the way back to Hogwarts until Harry was laying her back in her bed in the hospital wing. The others had said goodbye to them in the Entrance Hall, so it was just the two of them here.

"You've saved me from Voldemort twice now," Ginny whispered as he pulled her covers up over her.

"I had a ton of help both times," he said quietly, sitting down on the edge of her bed. Harry had no idea what time it was but it felt like it was probably three or four in the morning. He was tempted to lie down next to her and sleep right there.

"Thank you, Harry," Ginny said, smiling at him. Her eyes batted closed but she fought to open them again. "If you would have told me in the shower this morning that you would save my life by the end of the day, I don't know if I would have believed you."

"Of course you would have," he said, laughing quietly. Then, he kissed her cheek, got up and left the hospital wing.


	74. A Walk on the Grounds

Harry taught his classes in a half-asleep stupor. For the first two classes, he threw an essay question up on the chalkboard and had them write for the entirety of the period while he sipped Pepper Up potion and tried not to fall asleep.

For third and fourth period though, the fourth years were a little better at dueling, and so he had them practice protective spells.

He was relieved when his free period rolled around before lunch. He thought about catching up on sleep, but he wanted to check on Ginny more.

Walking into the hospital wing, he was nervous. He'd not been thinking about the fact that they'd Obliviated Madam Pomfrey until he saw her standing at Ginny's side. He closed his mind as he came nearer, just in case.

"How is she doing?" Harry asked the nurse. Ginny was sleeping, as he'd expected.

"Ginny no longer has that dark curse on her heart. I won't be transferring her to Saint Mungo's." She eyed him. "I don't know how do you did it."

"What? I didn't do anything. Maybe you healed her with that charm you did."

"My logs, Potter, in addition to my patients' charts, are also kept magically," she whispered, clearly angry. "It charted that Ginny was missing from approximately nine-fifteen in the evening until approximately one-thirty in the morning."

"Is that all? I thought we'd gotten back no earlier than three."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "And it charted that she left with you, Mr. Weasley, and Mr. Malfoy… and that I was unconscious at approximately nine-ten in the evening, though of course, I have a very quaint memory of getting ready for bed by putting on cold cream, which I've never done in my life, and taking off a pair of white fuzzy slippers, which I do not own, and then going to bed around midnight. Needless to say, I avoid staying up that late if at all possible because I rarely know when I'll be woken in the middle of the night."

Harry tried not to laugh. "Well, I suppose Malfoy may have embellished a bit too much."

"It's not funny," she said.

"Sorry."

"But, as it's _you_ ," she flicked her hand at him. He was glad she wasn't holding her wand. "And we all owe you one, so to speak, I suppose I'll let this one slide. Especially since you were able to heal Miss Weasley when I was not."

"Thanks," Harry said, surprised. He started to turn back toward Ginny.

Madam Pomfrey grabbed his arm again to stop him. "If there's a next time, just be honest. I'm a nurse, not a teacher," she said quietly.

"Alright."

* * *

Harry passed the next few days by visiting Ginny as much as possible, though she was very tired and usually was either sleeping when he visited or else fell asleep while they talked.

After promising to take a potion every day for the next week to help her heal from her rebounded curse, she was allowed to leave the hospital wing on Saturday morning. Harry was pleasantly surprised when she sat down next to him at breakfast and explained this.

"Hermione, could I borrow your notes from yesterday's Potions class that I missed?"

"Sure," Hermione said, glancing up from her newspaper.

Harry slid his hand into Ginny's. But she pulled her hand away. He wasn't sure if it was because she just needed her hand so she could eat breakfast or it was because she didn't want to touch him. Either way, he didn't want to ask her about it so he simply acted as though nothing happened.

"It looks like a beautiful day outside," Ginny said. "Anyone fancy a walk to Hogsmeade?"

"Are you sure you should be walking that far?" Hermione asked immediately. Harry was glad she asked because he was wondering the same thing.

"Well, I suppose I'd be fine if I walked slowly," Ginny said.

"Nah, I need to finish that bleeding essay for Herbology," Ron said and then quickly added, "No offense to Neville."

"Ha, I didn't have to write one," Harry said, genuinely smiling.

"Must be nice to be you," Ron said. But Hermione and Ginny looked at him pointedly. "Well, this one time I suppose. Generally, I'm glad I'm not you… not that you're a bad guy…"

"I know what you meant," Harry said, laughing. Ron laughed too.

"I'll help you with the essay if you like," Hermione said. "It'd make it go faster." She gave him a significant look. Ron's eyes widened as he tried not to smile at her.

"Oh, alright," he said and then he did smile. Harry was glad to see that at least they were getting on.

After Ron was done with breakfast, and Hermione finished her newspaper, they left for the Gryffindor Common Room.

Shortly after that, Ginny and Harry were done as well and got up, walking quietly out to the Entrance Hall.

"Do you still want to go to Hogsmeade?" Harry asked her.

"Not really. I just thought it'd be something to do."

"Well, we could go for a walk around the school. It's big enough," Harry suggested.

"Yeah, alright."

They walked quietly for a while, meandering down the Entrance Hall and then outside and down toward Hagrid's hut and then along the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

Harry wished she'd start talking because if he started talking, he was afraid he'd start talking about their relationship and why she pulled her hand away from him. And he was tired of whining at her about her not feeling the same toward him. So he stayed quiet.

He watched as she pulled her necklace from her neck, pulled the Resurrection Stone from its little gold bail, and then tossed the stone into the undergrowth of the forest. Harry was impressed at how far she was able to throw it, but then again, she always had been an excellent Chaser…

She shoved the gold chain into her pocket as they kept walking as though nothing happened.

"So, there are a few things I need to tell you," Ginny said slowly as they continued to edge along the trees.

"Yeah?" Harry tried to sound nonchalant but inside, her words immediately put him on edge despite the fact that he was relieved she was finally talking.

"Well, that night a few nights ago that I came to you… to your bedroom—"

"You were possessed by Voldemort and you were about to kill me when I woke up?"

"Yes. I slept with you out of weakness. I needed to touch someone. Same thing in the shower in the morning. Being… connected like that… helped me."

"Well, use me for your survival anytime. I'm more than willing to help." Harry smirked over at her.

"I didn't mean to use you."

"What did Voldemort think of my sexual performance?"

"He couldn't talk while we did those things, so I don't know. He called me a slag a lot…"

"Ah, right. I see why you would want to sleep with me then. I'd sleep with me too if that meant I didn't have Voldemort talking to me in my head. Trust me, I know how that feels… burns a bit."

"It didn't burn me. I don't have a scar."

"Oh. Right."

She looked at him and narrowed her eyes a bit. It made her look like Mrs. Weasley but of course he didn't tell her this. He wasn't in the mood to be hexed. "Well, what else did you want to say? You said there were a few things…"

"One is that," she huffed out a huge breath of air, "while I didn't sleep with Draco, I did have feelings for him."

"Okay." Harry immediately thought of how Draco mentioned Ginny saying she loved him (Harry). Maybe Draco really had only been trying to cheer him up after all?

"But trying to make a go of it with Draco only made me realize how much I still really care for you." She reached out and stopped Harry from walking further by grabbing his forearm. He turned to face her. Up the hill, off in the distance, Harry could see the Whomping Willow swaying in the breeze.

"I'm in love with you," she said.

Harry tried not to let himself feel the joy that was bleeding out of his heart upon hearing those words. He knew there had to be something else to it. This was Ginny after all. "But?" he prompted her when she didn't say anything after a moment, though she was staring up at him.

"But, well," she said, crossing her arms over herself. "I don't deserve you. I'm not ever going to be good enough for you." She bit her lip as she tried not to cry.

Harry waited for her to continue talking but it seemed she wasn't able.

"That's not how I see it at all," Harry said, holding perfectly still.

"You don't?"

"No, Gin," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "I don't know what to say to that."

"It's why I broke up with you in the first place, back during the summer. I was afraid of my feelings for you. Of how strong they were. If you left me and I felt so much for you, then where would that leave me? I didn't think I'd be able to survive it."

"But didn't you see that by you leaving me, that's what you did to _me_?"

"You're just trying to be nice."

"No, Ginny… I fell into such a deep pit over you that I messed about with Hermione."

"You _what_?"

"Sorry, but I did. That's why Ron punched me. Rightfully so, I might add." When she said nothing to this—he supposed he'd shocked her too much—he continued. "I was battling alcoholism there for a few months. I even thought about killing myself once or twice. I've got PMTD and probably the only reason I'm alive is because of a healer with blue hair who talks with me basically everyday unless he has to go to a family thing or the like."

"I… I'm sorry…" Ginny said, shaking her head.

"You were preoccupied with not dying too this past year. I don't blame you for not noticing my problems."

"I'm still sorry," she said again, looking down at her feet. It was quiet while Harry waited for her to stop crying. He knew her well enough that if she wanted him to hug her or touch her, she'd just step forward. So he didn't touch her.

After a minute or two, she looked back up at him.

"Alright, can I say something?" Harry asked her. He held her gaze. "I'm likely to sound like a prat so bear with me."

"Alright," she said, smiling slightly.

"I love you back, more than anything Ginny. You're it for me. You know that right?"

She shook her head but held his gaze.

"If you love me, you have to surrender yourself to me, and I'll give myself over to you. Completely. That's how it works. You'd make me the happiest man alive if you did that."

"But Harry…" Her lip trembled slightly and a few tears fell from her eyes but she didn't look away from him. "Yes. Yes. I'm going to do that. I've already done it," she said, laughing and crying at once.

Harry couldn't help but laugh too. And then Ginny threw her arms around his neck and kissed him with such force that he stumbled back and slammed against a tree, forcing him to make a "Huh!" sound. Ginny giggled as he lifted her up and turned, pressing her up against the tree instead.

"I love you so much," he said, and kissed her.

"I love you too," she said, a few leftover tears falling from the corners of her eyes as she smiled at him.

"I'm so glad you're wearing a skirt," he whispered into her ear.

"You want to do this right here on the edge of the forest? It's one in the afternoon," she said, but she was laughing.

"Only if you're up for it. Are you tired?"

"No, definitely not tired… not after that conversation…"

Gently, Harry pressed himself against her so he was holding her up against the tree only with one hand and his hips. Then, he slid the Invisibility Cloak out of his pocket and threw it over both of them with his free hand.

"Did you have that specifically for this sort of reason?" Ginny asked, scrunching her nose.

"A man can dream," he said, kissing her nose. Then, he kissed her cheek, and then her neck.

"Mmm," she said as she leaned into the touch of his lips.

He slid one of his hands around to the inside of her thigh and up. Then, he pulled her knickers aside and slid his middle finger into her.

"Ahh," she said. He kissed her to keep her from being too loud.

"You're very wet," he said against her lips.

"I was ready for you the moment you told me you loved me, Harry," she said softly, holding him tighter around his neck so their chests were touching and she could whisper into his ear more easily.

He didn't need telling twice. Unzipping his trousers, he guided himself into her.

As he thrust into her, he listened to her strained, soft breaths as they quickened with him. It was the sexiest thing he'd ever heard. She kissed his neck like he had so often done to her in the past. Her lips on his skin felt like fire and ice at once. And it was amazing… He held tightly to her leaning almost all of his weight into her as he moved. Meanwhile, she held tightly back, her hands messing his hair even worse than normal.

She bit her own hand and then he felt her come around him. Soon after, he let himself find release too.


	75. Battle Scars

Still under the Invisibility Cloak, Harry turned with Ginny still in his arms and slid down the tree. Sitting down on mossy roots, he held her against his chest as she sat on his lap.

"There was one more thing I wanted to tell you," Ginny said. She had one arm around his torso and her head rested against his chest.

"What, love?"

"The Holyhead Harpies asked me to try out as Chaser for their team."

"What?" Harry asked, pulling her back a little so he could see her face. "Wow! That's basically an in, them inviting you to try out."

"Well, I'm trying not to get my hopes up."

"When are tryouts?" Harry asked. "I may be a bit rusty but I can run drills with you the way Malfoy was."

"How'd you know he was doing that?"

"I was green with envy any time he so much as looked at you," Harry said matter-of-factly.

"Sorry… Er, tryouts are in May on a Saturday. Two weeks before N.E.W.T.s."

"That's a lot of pressure," Harry said. "But no matter. You'll do great. You're an amazing flyer."

"Not as good as you. You should try out too."

"I thought the Harpies only took witches?"

"Well, for a different team," she clarified, lacing her left hand into Harry's right.

"I want to be an Auror. That's where I'm meant to be."

"Yeah," Ginny said, "I agree. I'm kind of surprised you ended up deciding to finish school instead of just going straight into becoming an Auror, really."

"Well, you were a big reason for that. And, I don't want anyone treating me differently because of who I am. I want to earn my way like everyone else."

"Right… speaking of which…" She glanced up at him and he looked down at her under his glasses. "Can we sort of keep it quiet that we're together? At least beyond family and close friends? If I get a spot on the team, I don't want anyone thinking it was your doing. No offense."

"No, I completely understand," he said, kissing her temple. "Yeah, we can try to keep it secret. At least until we get married." He'd said it only to test her. He was amazed when she didn't even flinch.

"Right," she said simply. She gave him a soft kiss and then started readjusting her skirt and knickers. Then, shakily, she got off of Harry's lap, ducked out from under the Cloak and stood up.

After zipping his trousers and doing a quick cleaning spell on himself as well, he pulled off the Invisibility Cloak and stood as well.

* * *

As Hermione and Ron walked hand-in-hand up the stairs to the Gryffindor Common Room, Hermione tugged his hand so he'd lean closer. Ron leaned down, turning his face slightly toward hers.

She whispered into his ear. "If you come to the Room of Requirement with me right now, I'll finish your essay for you."

"What's in it for you though?" Ron asked, "You didn't even need to ask."

Hermione smiled. "Good."

They walked right past the Portrait of the Fat Lady and down the hall toward the Room of Requirement.

* * *

Draco sat alone at the bar in the Three Broomsticks with a butterbeer. He had a textbook for Arithmancy opened in front of him but he wasn't reading it.

"Want to buy me a drink, Draco?" asked an unfamiliar voice next to him. He looked up, surprised that someone was calling him by his first name and it wasn't Ginny or his mother. Rather, it was a girl he thought he knew the name of but wasn't quite sure… she looked familiar.

"Alright. What will you have?" Draco said. He was bored and she was pretty. Why not?

"Butterbeer of course," she said, sitting down next to him. Draco shut his textbook and hailed down Madam Rosmerta, who got another butterbeer right away.

"Thank you, by the way," she said, raising her butterbeer to him and then taking a swig.

"You're welcome… I'm sorry, I've forgotten your name," Draco started awkwardly.

"Astoria. My older sister was Daphne? She graduated already."

"Ah, right. As I recall, she was quite pretty too. Though you are definitely prettier."

Astoria winked at him. "I should really be buying _you_ a drink. You saved me from Seamus Finnegan trying to chat me up yesterday."

"Sorry, when?"

"You were going out on the grounds with Ron Weasley."

"Ah, right," Draco said, smirking, "Well, next round, perhaps."

"Yes… I'm glad to see you've become friends with him and his sister. You definitely seem to be a man who thinks for himself."

This surprised and somewhat insulted Draco. And yet… he liked it.

"I wouldn't say we're friends," Draco said finally, "But I suppose we have come to an understanding."

"Are you and Ginny still an item? I'd heard you broken things off."

"You don't mess about, do you?" Draco said, looking her over.

"Finally a man who understands me." She laughed. Draco smiled back at her.

* * *

Ron followed Hermione to the huge bed in the middle of the bedroom that was the Room of Requirement. She sat down at the edge and Ron came to her and knelt down before her.

"I had a flashback last night when I was trying to fall asleep," Ron said quietly, slowly unbuttoning Hermione's shirt as he spoke. She watched his fingers intently but he could tell she was listening. Hermione was always listening. "For a few minutes, I was back in the Department of Mysteries but it was fifth year and I couldn't stop laughing because of the brains and I thought you were dead. And I thought I was going to die too. I couldn't breathe—"

Hermione looked up at him with tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry I wasn't there with you. I would have tried to bring you out of it."

"Have you had any flashbacks?" he asked. He'd finished unbuttoning her top and pushed it open. He was lightly running his finger along the tops of the cups of her bra.

"Not yet," she whispered. "All that's over now. Voldemort's gone. And you and I have each other. We lived."

"Every time you say something like that, I feel like you're tempting fate to take you away from me." He pushed her hair away from her face and ran his hands down over her hair. Hermione shut her eyes at the feeling of his touch.

"I know," she said, "I feel like that too… I'll try not to say such things anymore, alright?"

"Alright." He was bending down. He pulled one of her shoes off, then the other. Then one sock. Then the other.

"I have a hard time falling asleep when you're not with me," Hermione said after it was quiet for a few seconds. "Really, ever since you… you left Harry and me last year…"

"I'll never leave again, 'Mione. I could never do that again. You know that. We can sleep together every night if you like. Here or in my bed. There isn't much school left. Only a couple of weeks." Hermione lifted her bottom up as Ron slid her jeans off of her from where he knelt.

"What about after school? Are we going to live together before we're married?"

"You tell me," he said, shaking his head. He pushed her unbuttoned shirt from her shoulders. Hermione shivered a little. It had nothing to do with feeling cold.

"Yes, I want to live with you. Maybe we should push the wedding up. We should have planned it for the week after school." As she said this, she pulled his t-shirt up over his head and let it fall to the floor.

"Nah, there's all the stuff to plan and prepare still… Mum will turn a blind eye to where we're sleeping. You moved in with Harry and me before school started, after all, and she didn't seem to notice."

"Yeah, but Harry was there. It was different." She ran her fingers lightly over his happy trail.

"Not so different when you think about—"

"Let's not ever speak of Halloween again, alright?"

"Yeah," Ron said, laughing, "Sorry. Agreed." He watched as she unbuckled his belt and then undid his trousers and let them fall.

Ron stood and, pushing his socks off with the opposite foot's toes, he crawled up on top of Hermione. As he did, she scooted back a bit on the bed.

She arched her back as Ron unhooked her bra. "Where are we going to live though?" she asked him again. He slid her bra straps down her arms and lightly tossed it off the end of the bed.

"Mmm…" He leaned down and drew one of her nipples into his mouth as he kneaded the other breast. "It doesn't matter, does it?" he asked thickly.

"Yes," she said. He glanced up with her nipple between his teeth and saw that her eyes were shut.

He let go of her nipple. "Alright, where would you like to live?" He sat up on his knees and she sat up too. He couldn't help but watch her breasts as she sat up.

"Well, my parents told me that they wanted to give us some money to get us started. As a wedding present..."

"Oh. You know, Harry wanted to sell Grimmauld Place. Maybe we could buy it from him?" Ron said. He couldn't help but touch Hermione's breasts again. Then, after fondling her for a moment, he watched Hermione lean back and then lie back down again. He leaned down and kissed the spot where here collarbone ended on her neck.

"Yeah, maybe," she said. Ron had already forgotten what they were talking about. He kissed her mouth and she returned it, deepening their kiss. As they kissed, Ron pulled her knickers down a bit. Then, he started playing with her.

Hermione stopped kissing him when she leaned up a bit and he pulled her knickers off the rest of the way. Then, scooting down the bed, he went down on her.

"Ah," Hermione hissed, grabbing onto a fistful of the bedspread and a fistful of his hair. He had to fight her thighs with his elbows to keep her legs apart.

"Just relax, 'Mione," he said. Then, he blew on her.

"Ron, _what_ are you doing?" she asked, writhing.

"Don't you like this?" he said, leaning up to see her better.

"Erm, yes. Actually. It's amazing," she said shyly. He watched her cheeks turn pink and then he bent back down. Slowly, he planted wet kisses on the insides of her thighs.

She drew in a sharp intake of breath again when he found her once more.

Grinning to himself, he tortured her with his mouth and two of his fingers—still fighting her thighs with his elbows as he did—until she came undone… He hardly noticed how much she was pulling onto his hair because he was so hard that it practically hurt.

"Mmm," he said, laughing as he wiped his chin.

"Ron, hush." She covered her face with her hands.

"Oh, Hermione, don't be embarrassed. I think I liked that more than you did."

"Really?" she asked, clearly skeptical. She uncovered her face.

"Yes," he said fervently.

"Oh, Ron—" she said, gazing down at him and seeing that he was still hard. "Come here." And she pulled him up on top of her.

He lifted her legs up so her knees were on his shoulders. Then he pushed into her.

Hermione shut her eyes and grabbed onto both of his shoulders. "Wow," she said quietly.

"Alright?" he asked.

"Yes," she whispered, looking up at him. He thrust into her again… She moved her hands to his neck so he bent closer to her. Her knees were by her ears.

"Tell me if I'm hurting you," he said.

"I will."

He went a bit faster.

"Yes," Hermione whispered, looking up at him with half-lidded eyes. So he went faster. He focused on her eyes, then the pretty heart-shape of her mouth. He glanced down at her breasts, which moved a little slower than the rest of her… then, to her hair—her curls fanned out under her…

As he came, they kissed sloppily and deeply. Then, while still inside her, he fell to her side and she tucked herself around him, holding him close.

"Sex is like… your hidden talent," she whispered.

He laughed. "Thanks."

"Seriously, if all else fails, you need only have sex with me and everything will be better."

"I doubt that… but I'll keep it in mind."

"Just think about all those petty fights we'd had in the past. If we'd just had sex instead..."

"No, think about what would have happened if I so much as touched you while we were fighting. You would have shot more than just a flock of yellow tweeting birds at me."

He gently pulled out of her and she winced slightly.

"No, alright, well, if you're snogging another girl then maybe don't try to have sex with me. But the stupid bickering fights. I think those were just us wanting to… connect."

"Ah, yeah," Ron said. He tucked his arm under her neck. "I think you're right."

"Well, from my point of view, I know I'm right. I can't speak for you though."

"Yeah, trust me," Ron said, lightly grazing his lips against hers, "If you had ran at me and kissed me during any of our stupid fights over the years, I would have instantly forgiven you for whatever it was. Even killing my pet rat."

"Sorry 'bout that."

"Too bad Crookshanks didn't really eat him. Would have done us a favor."

"Well, no matter now," Hermione said. "Really, we're lucky that he died, erm, when he did…"

Ron considered this. "Yeah, that's definitely true." Then, untucking his arm from under her head and leaning up on an elbow, he pulled her scarred arm toward himself. Slowly, he traced the word _mudblood_ that was etched there in white.

"That tickles," she said, smiling. Bending, he kissed her wrist. He was pleased to see that this caused her nipples to become erect again.

"I'm sorry I couldn't stop her," he said, trying to ignore Hermione's bare breasts.

"You did eventually. It all turned out alright in the end," she said, caressing his cheek along his jaw.

"Not soon enough though."

"We all have our battle scars," she said, and then she gently pulled her arm from his grasp and ran her finger lightly along the scars from the brains.

Ron watched the progress of her finger and shut his eyes, reveling in her touch. When she stopped tracing, he leaned down and kissed her.

She responded immediately, wrapping her arms around his torso as he moved over top her once more…


	76. Last Day of Hogwarts

April passed into May with spring flowers budding up in Hagrid's gardens and Neville's greenhouses. It seemed like no time had passed before Ginny's tryouts had come and gone. And then, in the second week of June she received a letter during the morning post.

Harry set his pumpkin juice down and turned to watch her as she read. Hermione and Ron still hadn't noticed anything from across the table.

"I did it," she said quietly, looking up at Harry.

"Wow," he said, "That's great! Ginny Weasley, professional Quidditch player!" He pulled her into a hug. She hugged him back.

"Wow," she said, looking down at the letter.

"What is it?" Hermione asked while at the same time, Ron asked, "Did you get on the team? Did you get Chaser?"

"Yep!" she said, smiling at both of them.

"My sister made the Holyhead Harpies!" Ron said, leaning over toward Seamus and Dean. They smiled and congratulated her. Then Ron stood and shouted across the Great Hall. "Malfoy! Ginny made the Holyhead Harpies!"

Draco turned and looked over at Ginny. He smiled and nodded and then, pointing his wand upward, he made a single silver spark, like a miniature firework, fly into the air before he turned away.

"Sit down, Ron," Ginny said, laughing.

Harry peered over at the letter lying on top of her toast. He couldn't help but notice a schedule at the bottom. He wasn't sure why it hadn't crossed his mind until now that she'd be gone a lot if she played professional Quidditch.

"Camp starts right after Ron and Hermione's wedding," Harry said, trying to make his voice sound normal but failing.

"Mm, yeah," she said, looking back down at the paper. "Yeah, that's… I'll be gone for like, six weeks for training. And then, wow look at this schedule… We'll play… thirty-eight games… and that's not including if we make it to Cup games or Champions' league…"

Harry felt his heart sink somewhere to the vicinity of his navel. Ginny seemed to sense this.

"I won't do it," she said, setting the paper down. "Not if that means not seeing you."

"What? No," Harry started, but she cut him off.

"I hadn't planned on this. Really, I never even thought this would be possible for me…" She watched him closely, obviously worried.

Harry glanced over at Ron and Hermione, who weren't even pretending not to be listening. He wanted to tell them to bugger off… He looked back to Ginny.

"Look, this isn't going to change anything," Harry said resolutely, "We'll Apparate to see each other as much as possible."

"But if I'm in training, and you're training to be an Auror… we're both going to be so tired…"

"It'll be fine," Harry said, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her. "We made it through worse than this."

"But are you sure?" she said, looking down as he held her hands in his. "I don't want to mess this up."

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Tickets can be pretty expensive for the Harpies..."

"Well, lucky for me, I've got more money than I know what to do with. I'll owl and reserve a box for the season for home games," Harry said, smirking. She smiled back.

"I think I'd probably be able to get my boyfriend tickets anyway," she said, shrugging and flicking her hair over her shoulder.

"I thought you weren't going to tell them I'm your boyfriend?" He glanced back at Ron and Hermione. He saw that they were exchanging a look of relief. Ginny laughed.

"Thank you," she said, pushing his hair away from his forehead as he looked back at her. "You're really a lot more balanced than anyone gives you credit for."

He laughed at this. "No I'm not."

* * *

The next week passed in a haze of studying all day, every day, interspersed with nights spent in bed with Ginny. Likewise, Hermione and Ron were hardly ever apart between sleeping in the same bed almost every night, studying together and doing Head Girl and Head Boy duties.

Finally, N.E.W.T.s were finished. And, with a feeling akin to being clubbed over the head by a Troll, it was time to leave Hogwarts for good.

* * *

On the last day of school, Professor McGonagall called Harry to her office.

"I just wanted to thank you for teaching the first through fourth years Defense classes, Potter," she said as Harry neared her desk. He sat down in one of the chairs. Harry couldn't help but glance over his shoulder where Fawkes used to be…

"You're welcome," Harry said, turning to face her once more.

"Will you be back next year as our full-time Defense teacher?"

Harry considered this for a moment just to be polite. "Thank you, Professor, but no. It is still my wish to become an Auror."

She smiled. "Well, Potter. I thought you'd say that. Still thought I'd ask. The students performed excellently under your care."

"Thanks."

"There is one more thing." She slid open a drawer and took something out. With whatever it was tucked into her hand, she slid the drawer shut again. "Come with me."

Harry stood and followed her behind the desk and down a few steps through an odd little seating area. There, she unlocked a heavy wooden door with the key she had in her hand.

Then, they walked down a very short hall, flanked with three doors each. She unlocked the last door on the right with her wand. Once she opened the door, she stepped back.

As Harry walked into the room, which was only slightly bigger than a broom closet, the first thought he had was of when hundreds of Hogwarts acceptance letters had flooded the Dursleys' house back when he was eleven years old.

"I was unable to unlock this door all year until a few days ago, when I found these keys under a flap in the bottom of the drawer. The door wouldn't open with an unlocking spell."

Harry bent down and picked up an envelope near his feet which was one of an enormous pile taking up the majority of the room.

"It's fan mail," McGonagall explained, "all addressed to you. I dug through the pile a bit. I hope you don't mind."

"I don't mind—"

"They date back to when you were a baby," she said. "The first is written the day after your parents died. I could only tell because I accio'ed over a dozen letters that were written on that day. The last was written just before Professor Dumbledore died. I suppose the magic stopped working once he was no longer with us."

"I see," Harry said, straightening up. He smiled sadly at her. "Just another way Dumbledore tried to protect me, I suppose."

"Yes, I suppose," she said, shaking her head and looking around the room. There had to be thousands of letters stacked here. Harry wondered how he'd ever be able to read it all.

"Where would you like me to send them?" she asked, folding her hands around her wand and looking to Harry.

"Er, my parents' house in Godric's Hollow. That's where I'll be living now," Harry said.

She seemed to study him for a moment. "Alright," she said. She waved her wand and the letters all disappeared.


	77. The End of an Era

Ron stood in the master bedroom of Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place. The room no longer appeared dirty or dark or dingy. Rather, the majority of the house was sparkling clean and devoid of just about all the dark magical objects that had haunted the Black house for years. The curtains were pretty and let in lots of light. In the few weeks following their departure from Hogwarts, Ron and Hermione had created a lovely home out of what was once a terrible place to be. They even managed to unstick the permanent sticking charm on Mrs. Black's portrait.

They'd asked Harry if they could buy the house from him, but he wouldn't let them. Instead, he gifted them the house as a wedding present and all its dingy contents. As their only payment, he made them promise that they'd give him any pictures of Sirius or the Marauders or any letters they found, especially written by James, Lily, Remus or Sirius. They gladly accepted, though unfortunately there weren't any to be found.

Harry stood to by Ron, happily sober. He was the only one who hadn't had a drop of alcohol. Neville was mildly buzzed. George, Bill, Charlie, Mr. Weasley and even Percy, however, were all varying degrees of drunk. They were passing around the same bottle of firewhiskey which they kept refilling with a refilling charm over and over again.

"First Bill, and then George… now Ron… wow, I feel old!" said Mr. Weasley. "I'm so happy for you, Ron. You found love at a young age, just like I did."

"Thanks, Dad," Ron said. He was sloshed. Harry was smiling widely, content to be the only sober one. He was confident he could sidelong Apparate Ron when it was time to leave, at least. So at least Ron wouldn't splinch himself to death on his wedding day… Hermione would kill him if he did…

* * *

At the Burrow, while Mrs. Weasley ran around making sure everyone was cooking things correctly and everything was decorated and beautiful, and Hermione's parents stood awkwardly in the corner of the kitchen sipping cups of tea, Hermione stood in Ginny's room before a full-length mirror.

Ginny fixed Hermione's veil so it hung over her calmed-down curls just right. Hermione's white dress fit her perfectly. Running her hands over the satin skirt, Hermione felt tears prick her eyes.

"I can't believe I'm getting married at eighteen," she said quietly to Ginny, looking away from the mirror. "Do you think I'm crazy?"

"Oh, Hermione," Ginny said quietly, wiping Hermione's tears from her eyes. Together, they sat down on the edge of Ginny's bed. "Do you think this might just be cold feet?"

"But we're eighteen! We're so young…" she said. "I don't know if I'm ready for this…" Hermione started crying. Ginny handed her a handkerchief and magically cleaned away the teardrops that fell on Hermione's dress.

"Don't think of it that way," Ginny said quietly. "You're in love, right?"

"Yes," she said, sniffling.

"You're not a normal eighteen year old," Ginny said, smiling at her. "You've been through more than many adults have. You've had your relationship with Ron tested to its breaking point already. A couple of times. It's not like you're rushing into this."

"Yes, but we have so much ahead of us. I'm just afraid that… what if we get to be thirty and we realize that we were still children when we got married?"

Ginny took a deep breath, watching Hermione. "The fact that you're even asking such a question sort of proves that you're mature enough to be making this decision."

Hermione considered this. "Well, yes, maybe…"

"Ron has grown up a lot in the last year or so too… but you know, he's always going to be Ron." Ginny shrugged.

"Right," Hermione said, nodding. "You know, the fact he'll always be him is actually reassuring, even though I know you didn't mean it that way."

"Yeah?" Ginny said.

"I mean, I think I'm just afraid to get married. But once I'm married to _Ron_ , it's going to be alright. Does that make sense?" Hermione laughed through her tears.

"Yes, actually," Ginny said, smiling. She pulled Hermione into a hug, careful not to pull on her veil. Just then, a knock came at the door. "Come in," Ginny called as she released Hermione from her hug and wiped her tears, fixing her makeup.

"Everything's ready," Luna said, smiling. She wore a lavender dress like Ginny but hers was cut differently, smoothing out her thinness while Ginny's accented her curves.

"Is Ron here yet?" Hermione asked, standing up. Ginny automatically started adjusting her skirt for her.

"Yes," she said, her smile widening. "He side-long Apparated with Harry just a few minutes ago."

"Why did Harry need to side-along Apparate?" Ginny asked at once. She glanced at Hermione who was obviously worried about the same thing.

"Oh, no, it's not Harry that's drunk. It's everyone else," Luna said, nodding as though this was reassuring.

"Oh," Ginny said, biting her lip so she wouldn't laugh.

"Even Mr. Weasley?" Hermione asked.

"Yes," Luna said brightly. "Anyway, we're to go down now. It's time."

"Oh my God," Hermione said. Ginny grabbed Hermione's bouquet of violet dahlias and handed it to her. Then, she picked up her bouquet of yellow gazanias and handed Luna's identical bouquet to her.

Hermione walked down the stairs behind Ginny, who was behind Luna, to the sound of a crying baby. She couldn't help it when her heart panged for the baby she'd lost, who would have been the same age as this one. At the bottom of the steps, Hermione saw that Fleur and the baby were the only ones in the kitchen. Fleur was bouncing her two month old baby girl in her arms, trying to get her to stop crying.

"I'm sorry, 'ermione! I will stay in 'ere to keep 'er from being too loud!" Fleur said, clearly frazzled.

"It's alright, she's just telling us how excited she is to be at a wedding!" said Luna, opening the kitchen door.

"Just hit her with a silencing spell," said Ginny, raising her eyebrows.

"Oh, right," said Fleur, laughing a little too loudly. "Well, you look beautiful, 'ermione! Bonne chance, ma soeur!"

"Thank you," said Hermione, smiling more at the baby than at Fleur. Then, Hermione stepped over the threshold and saw her father there. He offered her his arm.

"Thanks," said Hermione.

"You're welcome, daughter," he said, smiling down at her.

* * *

Harry surreptitiously hit Ron with a sobering spell—one that he had learned but had never actually used on himself during his months of drunkenness. It seemed to have little to no effect on Ron: tears were running down his face, his ears were beet read. He wouldn't stand still—he kept swaying, shifting his weight from foot to foot. Harry thought maybe the spell would take a while to take effect?

Then, the music changed and everyone stood. He watched as Luna walked down the aisle. And then it was Ginny's turn.

For a second, Harry imagined that this was his own wedding instead and Ginny was his bride. As though she knew he was doing this, she looked at him and winked. He smiled back at her.

And then, Hermione and her father rounded Hagrid at the back of the crowd. They began walking down the aisle toward the front of the gathering. Angelina stood in white witch's robes, her hands folded before her as Hermione and her father grew nearer.

Glancing over at Ron, Harry saw that he was smiling and crying at the same time. Harry was tempted to try a cheering charm, but he didn't want to distract from the ceremony.

Hermione met Ron's eyes and smiled. She looked nervous. For a second, Harry found himself hoping that she wouldn't turn and run back up the aisle.

But his fear was unfounded. Instead, he was watching Hermione's father pull her veil back from her face and kiss her cheek. Then, Hermione took Ron's arm and they faced Angelina.

* * *

Later, after all the normal wedding things happened, and Hermione was a bit drunk, and Ron had sobered a bit, Harry found himself sitting alone, watching Ginny dance with her father.

Soon, Luna and Neville came over to him.

"Are you alright?" Neville asked, sitting down next to Harry, a flute of champagne held loosely in his hand. Luna sat down on Harry's other side.

"Yeah, I'm alright," Harry said, watching Hermione and Ron.

"I'm glad they got married. I think they're good for each other. They balance each other out," said Luna, also watching the newlyweds.

"Mm, yeah," said Harry.

"It's the end of an era though," Neville said. And for some reason, when he said this, Harry felt tears well in his eyes until he could barely see Ron or Hermione anymore.

"Yes, it truly is," said Luna, smiling in a bittersweet sort of way. Then she leaned over and hugged Harry, surprising him. Neville leaned over too and hugged both of them, surprising Harry to the point where he started laughing as tears fell down his face, splashing onto his robes and into Luna's hair.

* * *

Draco steeled himself and led Astoria over to where his aunt and cousin sat.

"Hello, Andromeda," said Draco. "May I sit down?"

"Well, if it isn't Narcissa's little boy," she said warmly. "How are you, Draco?" She gestured for him to have a seat. "And who's this lovely girl with you?"

"This is my girlfriend, Astoria…"

"Astoria. That's a lovely name," she said, bouncing Teddy on her knee.

"Thanks. And who's this little man?" asked Astoria, bending down and smiling at the little boy.

"This is my grandson, Teddy…" said Andromeda, "Draco's cousin's son."

"It's lovely to meet you, Teddy," said Astoria. And to Andromeda's surprise, Teddy reached for Astoria. Smiling, Astoria picked him up and, sitting down next to Andromeda, she sat him on her knees as though she did this every day.

* * *

"I can't wait to get you home and take this dress off of you," Ron whispered into Hermione's ear.

"And then what will you do?" she said quietly into his chest.

"And then I will lick every inch of your body."

Hermione shook with silent laughter. "But I'm not sure how you're going to do that as I'm wearing this crazy laced-up thing called a bustier under my dress. It's got these elastics that are clipped to my stockings… I had to hold onto a bedpost while your sister laced me in."

"Oh, Merlin, I have to see this…" He ran his hand up and down her side, obviously trying to feel it.

"Patience, dear husband," she said, smiling as she lifted her face from his chest.

"Mm, I like it when you call me that," he said, looking down at her. He brushed his lips against hers as he said, "Dear wife."

"You'll have to last through the rest of the evening and not fall asleep from the alcohol first before you get to see my undergarments, dear husband," she said, smirking.

"If I fall asleep on our wedding night, it's your wifely duty to wake me up so we can consummate our marriage. We're not really married until we have sex tonight."

"That's not true." She scrunched her nose.

"Yes, it is. I'm surprised you haven't read that somewhere. You basically _have_ to have sex with me tonight."

"You're having me on. I will go find a book right now to prove you wrong…"

"'Mione. It's our wedding. You're not allowed to go to a library right now—"

* * *

"Hey hippies, are you making a move on my man?" came Ginny's voice. They let go of Harry and he looked up at her. "Dad's given me the slip. He's dancing with Mum. Come on, I want to dance."

Harry stood up, as did Luna and Neville, who followed Harry and Ginny and starting dancing together too.

Harry held Ginny's waist. Then, he took her hand in his other hand and held it to his chest. She kissed him lightly as the song changed and they started slow dancing.

"Were you pretending that this was our wedding when I was walking down the aisle earlier?" she asked him quietly.

"Yes," he said, "Sorry." He glanced away toward Hermione and Ron. They were talking with their faces about two inches away from each other. Ron ran his hand up and down Hermione's side and then Hermione was scrunching her face…

"I was too," whispered Ginny. He looked back at her.

"Yeah?" he asked, surprised.

"Mm."

It was quiet between them for a moment, both of them considering this as they looked into each other's eyes.

And then, Harry asked her. "Will you marry me, Ginevra Molly Weasley?"

"Yes," she said. Her face broke into a grin. "Absolutely. I will."

Then, he leaned down and Ginny tilted her chin up.

* * *

Mrs. Weasley watched as Harry kissed Ginny passionately. They obviously either had forgotten that they were in public or they didn't care. Perhaps both.

Quickly, she tapped her husband's chest and gestured toward them.

"Looks like love is in the air," said Mr. Weasley, bemused.

"You've locked the shed, right?" she asked.

"Er, I think so. Why?"

"No reason…" She watched as Harry led Ginny off of the dance floor and out of the tent. Mr. Weasley glanced back and watched them leave too.

"How long do you think until we have their wedding here?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"Hopefully at least a year," she said.

"You think it'd be less?" he asked, chortling.

As though giving up, she flung her hand in the air and shrugged. "Who knows?"

Mr. Weasley kissed her forehead.

The End.

* * *

Thank you so much for reading!


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